A Vale between Worlds
by DeadAliveManiac
Summary: A wormhole is smashed through space and time itself, linking the DC, Marvel, and RWBY universes. The resulting tear draws in the greatest and worst of the Gotham and New York, trapping them in Vale, and frees an ancient enemy. The DC universe preps for battle against the omnipotent being while another beast escapes to Vale for another chance to destroy everything it encounters.
1. So It Begins

The laboratory sat in shambles, the tiled ceiling falling apart, the floors and wall covered in dirt and filth of all sorts, a single fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling. It swayed and flickered, barely illuminating the center of the dull room, a man with suave brown hair sitting on a stool in the very center. He sat with his knees at his chest, firmly embracing his legs even closer. His white lab coat was in tatters, his orange suit shirt full of holes and green and yellow striated tie half of what it used to be. The sirens outside continued to blare endlessly, the man staring with a blank, horrified gaze at the floor. His concentration was broken by a shadow suddenly blotting out the dim light. He slowly looked up to find a hulking green leviathan before him, grotesquely bulging with muscle and panting through its furiously grimaced face. The man let out a scream as the beast rose its boulder-like fists in the air and threw them down on him.

"Bruce... BRUCE...WAKE UP!"

The man shot upright at his wooden desk, his clothing perfectly fine and his room in order as when he had nodded off. He looked at the hand that had been shaking him awake on his shoulder, tracing it to its owner, a brunette man in jeans, a multicolored striped shirt, and an unzipped gray sweatshirt, worry pasted to his face. "Bruce, are you okay?! You let me in and I found you...like this..."

The scientist sat there for a moment, too shocked to say or do anything but stare at the young man before him. "Bruce, answer me! What's wrong?"

The man's words snapped Bruce out of his trance, finally able to utter, "S-s-so-sorry, P-peter. I've just been having terrible nightmares is all."

"Bruce, you were screaming, you can't let your stress build up like this. This can't be good if you transform under this much stress, right?"

Bruce looked at Peter with horror before getting up from his chair, going to a computer and opening a few files before producing a chart and animation on the screen. Peter reluctantly looked at the screen, a time lapse showing the size and several different meters beside the Hulk. He grew angrier, larger, and more hideous with each passing day, stopping at one month with the green giant engulfed in a bright yellow aura, making him appear god-like. "What's this?" Peter asked.

"This is what happens when I don't transform into the Hulk after an extended period of time. The radiation has gone haywire, Peter, it can't be controlled anymore. I don't know what's causing it, but he's getting measurably stronger as the days go on, I've actually been able to draw up this theorem. I've found he grows more powerful after long periods of inactivity. At 5 days, he just gets exponentially stronger for every _second _he is free and harder to gain control of. A week and he can disintegrate a skyscraper with one punch, an entire city at 10 days. At 12 days he can punch holes in reality itself, possibly opening wormholes to other dimensions. Fourteen days and he can destroy a country, and a continent in three weeks. Twenty-five days makes him into the world breaker, his punches are equivalent to that of a supernova. At a month, he can destroy the solar system. That's as far as I measured, I don't know if it resets or he grows strong enough to create a black hole, or maybe just destroy the universe. I don't know, Peter...I'm scared."

"I see," Peter sighed, "How long has it been?"

"One week. I can't afford to ever change again, Peter, that's why I found this out."

"Doctor Banner, why haven't you released the Hulk?"

Bruce took a deep breath before stating, "I just can't put Betty through anymore of it..."

"Bruce, you know she understands..."

"Peter, you're not in any position to talk," Banner growled, stopping his speech to take a breath and pop a blue pill in his mouth, "Betty is a saint for dealing with this, but I can't put her through it anymore. There's only so much a woman can take, and she's taken far too much. I can't afford to lose her, Peter, losing her would be the last strand of sanity I have left. I don't want it anymore, he's a curse. I've destroyed cities, tarnished my reputation, and fought in countless battles, I don't want that anymore. The stress of keeping from changing alone is enough to break it, but I've been on 400 grams of a half dozen blood pressure pills, 200 grams of anti-stress capsules, and 50 grams of sleep medications."

"Jesus, Banner! You're going to end up overdosing!"

"No, I'm not. Remember, the Hulk is still in me, it's gonna take more than a few pills to take him out. But, it's all starting to fail, I got close to losing it on you just a second ago. I don't know what to do if it fails, Peter. There's no fail-safe plan to this."

Peter looked at Bruce for a moment, clicking his teeth with his tongue as he thought. Finally, he spoke, "Are you sure this is all accurate?"

"I know it is, Peter. It's hard to describe, but I can feel him getting stronger."

"Jeez...we need a plan..." Peter said.

"Well, I'll let you do that, Peter, but, for now, I need to be alone."

"Alright, Doctor Banner, good luck, I'll come by tomorrow."

* * *

The Dark Knight sat before a massive monitor on the Justice League space station, typing into the computer as an incoming transmission broke interrupted his work. His eyes narrowed in anger as he read the name on the transmission, accepting it as the boy wonder came up on the screen. "What is it, Robin?" Batman asked in his gravelly, deadpan tone.

"Wow, great to see your a ray of sunshine as always..." Robin jibed.

"Look, if you're calling just to waste my time, I'm ending this now. I have a lot to get done."

"Like what?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis. Now, I'll ask you again, what do you need?"

"Alright, I'll be serious, it's Raven," Robin began, Batman sitting upright at the mention of her name, "She won't say anything but, 'He's coming, he's coming, Trigon,'. Bruce, I'm really worried about her, I mean, she completely disintegrated him, he has to be dead and out of existence."

"How long has she been doing this?"

"Bruce, I..."

"How long, Robin!?"

"About a week, why?"

"Robin, Trigon is an interdimensional demon..."

"So? Maybe you didn't hear me, but she literally obliterated him, she blasted him out of existence."

"Maybe in this world, but he can manipulate other worlds completely under his control. In other words, we killed this dimension's Trigon, but he can live anywhere else."

"Oh, my God..."

"Yes, we'll get as many of us down there as quickly as possible, have the signs started to glow on her?"

"I don't know, no one has really been around her, all we can hear is her moaning whenever we go to the floor she lives on."

"Robin, listen very carefully, make sure she does not leave the tower. Take her to that room you made with incantations and lock her in there," Robin opened his mouth to protest, but Batman interjected, "Trust me, it's for her own good. I know a priest, have him come to bless the room every day. We need to keep Trigon from her, he's trying to take control of her once more. Do it, now."

"Okay, if that's what you think is right."

"Robin, I know this is hard to do to your friend, but it will benefit her and this dimension. The greater good is at stake, Robin, and I know I've trained you enough to do the right thing."

"I know...I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Batman replied, a small smirk cracking his face.

* * *

"Please...stop..." a blue-haired girl pleaded, lying in the palm of a giant red demon.

"Your destiny is to make sure I take Earth, you denied me that right once. I will not rest nor will I die until that goal is accomplished, Raven. Try as you might, run as far as you want, and hide in your holy room, but I will find you, and I will make you do what you must do."

"Father, don't..."

"It is your destiny, I cannot change what you must do, nor will I." Trigon said coldly, crushing his daughter in his palm.

Raven shot up in her bed, letting out an uncontrollable scream before stifling it with her hand. She stared aimlessly at her wall for a few moments, tears streaming down her face, her hand slowly sliding from her mouth, whispering, "Who can stop you?"

* * *

The door to a dorm room flew open, a trio of girls turning from their studies to find their leader at the door, ice cream cones in hand as she shouted, "HEEEEERE'S RUBY!"

**Hey guys, DAM here with another new story. I really need to finish before I start new stuff, but this was an idea I could not pass up. Like Halloween 3, this came to me in a dream and I instantly went to work on saving it in writing and working out the kinks. I hope anyone who reads this can leave me any points of criticism and encouragement since the magnitude of this story is so massive, I want to make this perfect. Thanks again for all of the support guys, remember to cite your DAM sources!**


	2. The Edge

The white-haired girl leaped out of her makeshift top bunk bed in fright, her faunus teammate and sister turning to see why the girl had so abruptly joined them once more. "Ruby, you nearly scared me half to death, what is wrong with you?!" Weiss snapped.

"Whoops, sorry, Weiss. I just had the best idea for what we can do today!" Ruby shouted, pumping her fists into the air to excite her comrades.

"How many cubes of sugar did you have with your coffee, Ruby?" Blake asked, trying not too hard to conceal a smile.

Ruby crossed her arms indignantly, shutting her eyes as she responded, "That's not important, but if you must know, six. But I had the best idea from walking through the halls of our fine academy after class."

"Well, don't hold out on us, spill it, sis." Yang insisted.

"Alright, you guys know there's a scavenger hunt coming up in Beacon's own Emerald Forest, right?"

All of the young girl's teammates looked at her with cocked eyebrows, instantly converging on her as they asked, "WHAT?!"

"Jeez, back off guys, give a huntress in training her breathing room. There's a scavenger hunt coming up that I heard from Professor Port, Goodwitch, and Oobleck talking about setting this up for next week on Monday and having it be a week long event."

"You _heard _them say this?" Weiss inquired, looking Ruby over with suspcion.

Ruby finally conceded, pressing her index fingers together as she did so, "Alright, I eavesdropped on them talking about it and I thought we could get a head start on finding the prize so..."

"Wait, are you saying we cheat?" Yang asked, almost unsure this was her own little sister before her.

"Well...uh...I...uh...cheat is such a strong word...I mean...uh..." Ruby stammered.

"It's a chance for a tactical edge, think about it! We know exactly where it is, go in, and claim the prize." Weiss interjected.

"Right, and, once we find it on the first day, we have the rest of the week to hang out and then show we found it while everyone else is off campus. We'll have Beacon all to ourselves!" Ruby added.

"I don't know, why would you want us to do this, Ruby?" Yang inquired.

"Come on, Yang, we can get a little edge and then we have the rest of the week to ourselves, think about it! No teachers, to teams, and no classes, just us doing whatever we want here!"

"I guess, if everyone's on-board." Yang muttered, looking around the room for objection.

"Why not? Beats sitting around and studying, might as well open up an entire week for anything." Blake answered.

"Alright, almost all of us are onboard. What about you, Weiss? Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Weiss stood hunched-over, dark clouds appearing behind her as she plotted in her mind, _This is brilliant! We have the edge we need to win this without any opposition. We'll get the stupid prize but, more importantly, people will notice us! We'll become popular, campus celebrities, and, most importantly, everyone will rush to buy my new line of Dust Accessories that come out soon. Nothing can stop us, the only thing that can slow us down is..._

"WEISS!" Ruby shouted straight into the heiress' ear.

The heiress crashed back in fright, demanding from her comrade, "WHAT?!"

"Are you coming with us or not?"

"Definitely." Weiss responded, an evil grin parting her lips.

* * *

The Bat had finally touched down in Gotham, the feeling of solid Earth a good feeling beneath his feet. He tapped a few buttons on the wrist of his gauntlet, summoning his Batmobile to his location, his trustworthy ride would arrive any moment now. "Master Bruce," his faithful butler spoke over his earpiece, breaking Bruce's concentration on waiting, "good to see you're back on Earth, any chance you'll be stopping by the residence?"

"Not now, Alfred, we have much bigger issues."

"And what would that be besides the imminent danger this city is constantly in and the questionable event today?"

"That would be the second coming of Trigon. What was that event you mentioned?"

"You don't remember, sir? Lex Luthor is in Gotham and he's paying a visit to Arkham Asylum to pitch new technology to the guards and the owner himself. The news clippings I've left you say it's top secret as a matter of state security."

"What? Why haven't I seen or heard of this?"

"I left them on your super computer's table under the assumption you'd be home sooner than later. But, here we are. What I don't understand is, if it's such an urgently secret manner, why parade it around to everyone in the papers?"

"He's flaunting it, like he wants us to go see what he's up to."

"Well, what are you going to do, Master Bruce?"

The Dark Knight growled in frustration, contemplating his next move. Trigon was coming, that much was certain, they needed everyone for the job of putting him back. But, the Justice League was on its way there, and Trigon could be days, maybe even weeks away from returning. Luthor was up to something and it was something worth checking out. Worst case scenario, he'd pitch lethal force to the guards. Best case, it's a time share scam and wastes a few hours of his time, but it was something he'd have to watch. "Alright, Alfred, I'm going to this event at Arkham, let Gordon know I'm going there and why. I'll get Clark to come with me."

"Why, sir? Your last trip not eventful enough?"

"Don't remind me. I need him for leverage on Luthor, he won't pull any stunts with him around."

"Alright, I hope you know what you're doing, sir."

"I do, too, Alfred."

The transmission went dead, Batman quickly changing calls and hearing Clark's voice fill his ear, "Bruce? What is it? Are you on your way to the Tower in Jump City?"

"Not yet, Clark," Batman answered, his vehicle arriving and top sliding open, "Luthor's up to something here in Gotham, apparently he's pitching something at Arkham. I need you to come here as quickly as possible so we can see what it is and make sure he doesn't fully pull anything."

The Batman entered his vehicle and sped off towards the edge of town, his private boat to board him and his vehicle waiting with the Commissioner, Superman protesting, "Bruce, are you sure we should do this? Luthor can wait, but Trigon's arrival deserves our utmost attention. Whatever he's up to, it can't be more dangerous than that."

"I know, but Trigon's not coming right now. We go to the prison, confirm my suspicions that he isn't doing anything illegal, and head to Jump City, ASAP. The last thing we need to worry about is Luthor plotting something while we fight an interdimensional demon. He may know something about this, he's just using that to cash in on this while we're gone."

Clark sighed on the other end, giving in to his hooded comrade's demands, "Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible. Let's just hope you're right very quickly and nothing happens in our absence, Bruce."

"That's what I'm hoping too." Batman responded, the call ending once more.

* * *

"BRUCE!" Peter shouted, jolting the scientist into consciousness.

The lab had fallen into a further state of dilapidation, coffee dumped over the the desk of his computer, dripping into a small pool on the floor. Various colors and sizes of pills spilled and lying about the floor randomly. Various chemicals began to fester and waste away in beakers and test tubes. "What is it, Peter?!" Bruce responded, shaken and weary.

"Bruce, I thought you said you'd leave tonight, what gives!?"

"Peter, if I go outside I'm almost guaranteed to destroy the city, Peter..."

"I thought you said that was after ten days?"

"I was wrong, he's getting so much stronger faster than I anticipated Peter, the slightest strain will unleash him at this point. I can't chance that."

"So, what, you're going to live here for the rest of your life? Living off junk food, pills, and loneliness?"

"If it keeps her safe and happy, that's all that matters."

"Bruce, you not being there isn't going to keep Betty or make her happy. She wants you, she loves you, and she's stuck by you this long, she can handle it."

"You don't know that for certain."

"Bruce, trust me, I've been with a lot of girls, but you have a woman. She'll stay with you no matter what, but we need to do something about this before it's too late for all of us, Bruce."

The scientist fell silent, contemplating his next move. Finally, he looked Peter dead in the eyes, instructing, "Alright, Peter, I need you to get Tony, the three of us can figure something out. But, we'll need more..."

"Who else? Thor? Natalia? Who?"

"I need the smartest men on the planet, and you and Tony are a good start. But we need more. We need Norman Osbourne, Otto Octavius, and Taskmaster. All of us combined should be able..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean them?! You want me to get them out Ravencroft and then what? Make sure they all stay in line and be good little villains or they don't get a lollipop?"

"Peter, this isn't a joke!" Bruce screamed, slamming his now massive, sickly green hand onto his desk, shattering it.

Bruce looked at his hand in horror for only a moment, diving for the floor and scooping a fistful of a combination of pills, downing them dry before looking up at Peter, tears in the scientist's eyes. "Peter, please, I'm begging you. We need the brains of Norman and Otto but we need Taskmaster as a fail safe, he can tell what I'll do if I it goes wrong and you can all stop me."

"Are you sure? If this goes wrong..."

"It can't Peter, they need to work with us if we all want to live."

Peter sighed, unbuttoning his peach shirt to reveal the webbed blue and red suit beneath, answering, "I'll do it."

"Alright, I'll get Tony here and we'll figure out what to do as soon as you get back."

**Hey, folks, DAM here with a brand, spanking new upload of Vale between Worlds. Sorry this took so long, I just got caught up in other projects and this got shelved for a second. Glad I could update and hope you enjoyed, and I hope even more I'm doing this story justice...**

**HA, great pun, man, so, when do I show up!?**

**Wait...what...how did you...**

**Oh, come on, we all knew everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth would show up sooner or later. Ladies and gentlemen, or the unwashed masses of non-cisgendered Tumblr users, Deadpool is joining the cast of A Vale between Worlds.**

**You can't just show up before I intended you to, it was supposed to be a surprise, and now you've ruined that.**

**Like how you're trashing an idea Scarecrow'sMainFan could do a way better job of? Come on, now we have hype, they all love me and they'll finally flock to this meh-ster piece of a...I want to say story, but I feel that's being too generous. How about an electronic coloring book everyone can print out?**

**I hate you and your damn fourth-wall awareness.**

**Oh, I hate you too, just like I hate my God of War opponent for your Death Battle rip-off. Oh, wait, was I supposed to say that? Sorry, it just slipped like your grandma on those stairs.**

**How did you even get here?**

**Wow, you're asking me that? You must really pour "tons" of "research" into that bias fanboy bullshit you call Death Battle if you don't know.**

**Screw it, just ruin all the surprises I had in store.**

**Wow, hostility, what are you going to do? Behead me like you did Weiss just because you want to?**

**I'm tempted but I'm not lazy like the people who created you. Thanks again guys, let's hope you all make it worth me being stuck with this hyperactive assclown.**

**Love you too, Zachy, tell me more about how you're kissless beta virgin.**

**Anyways, thanks again guys, keep the support coming, and cite your DAM sources.**

**Review, favorite, or follow for Deadpool, ignore for AIDS, famine, and Hitler!**


	3. Strain

Peter Parker stood atop a building in his home city, the noon sun high in the sky, now donning his famous red-and-blue costume. He stood up tall, overlooking the city he struggled to protect while speaking into a phone, "Look, Tony, it's very important you get to New York and meet me at Bruce's lab, we have to do something."

"Peter, I understand you calling me must mean something urgent is happening, but I can't afford to drop anything right now. I have a big meeting with several of my sponsors today that I have to fly out to San Francisco for, dropping that would bring nothing but bad publicity for Stark Industry. And you know that means I lose money." Tony replied indignantly, looking out his penthouse over the city lit up in the sun.

"Can't you afford that and a little gap in money? I mean, President Colbert's policies are putting the economy through the roof, you could make that all back in a week. Besides, would you rather miss a meeting or have Earth itself destroyed?"

Stark sighed over the phone, conceding, "Alright, you've got me there, Peter. I'll be down there whenever you need, I'll just call in and tell them my plane is having engine issues."

"Thanks, Tony, you know him better than anyone, getting you in was vital. I can't thank you enough."

"Well, you could, you could work for me as a photographer until you pay back whatever I lose. Let's see, I'd guess, if this goes bad with these investors, I'd be out 200 million, easy. The going hourly wage for you is, what, 10 bucks an hour?"

"Very funny, Stark, I'll see you in a couple hours, I have to get some more people." Peter replied, ending the call.

_Alright, we've got Stark, now I just need Osborne, Taskmaster, and Otto. As long as I keep those three maniacs shackled, webbed, or whatever, we should be good. They shouldn't be trying to pull anything if it means some freedom. This is all going according to..._

Spider-Man's thoughts were interrupted by a tap at his shoulder, the hero turning to find a man in a black-and-red costume nearly identical to his own in his face. Spider-Man immediately slapped his forehead, muttering, "Oh, no..."

"Hey, buddy, ol' pal, Spidey! How goes the hero business? I gotta say, it's great on my end. Tons of villains to fight, dames to save, and deny there advances on me if they're bigger girls, but the slim ones are alright in my book." the masked mercenary rambled, growling in pleasure at the thought of women who met his standards.

"What do you want, Deadpool? I'm very busy and I don't have any time to waste."

"Oh, no, of course! I heard that whole phone conversation you had, very important if you had to call in your filthy rich buddy Stark. Let me guess, upside down on a mortgage? College tuition? Therapy? Planned parenthood?"

"I don't have time for this," Spider-Man said, forcing his way past the mercenary, "I should be heading to Ravencroft now."

Spider-Man readied his hand to shoot a strand of web and make an impromptu exit, only for Deadpool to grab his arm and spin him around, clutching both of his arms and shouting, "Take me with you! Think about it, Spidey," Deadpool turned Spider-Man back towards the city, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and gesturing with his free hand, "You and me, fighting crime together. You must be in a bind if you're fighting with somebody from that madhouse. Why not just me? Spider-Man and Deadpool, the sticky-handed web users, for opposite reasons, of course. I like it! Forget those dumbasses, I'm here for whatever you need. Give me a chance, Maria, I mean, Spidey. What do you say?"

Peter forced his way out of Deadpool's grasp, shoving him aside before swinging away on a strand of web. Deadpool watched as the Spider disappeared behind a building, turning back, putting the back of his hand to his mouth and saying, "What, do you honestly think my dear old friend would just leave me like that? He needs his friend more now than ever, I bet my life on it, and no superhero is more fit for the job than me! I'm comin' Spidey, don't you worry! Turn around, put hands on hips, and teleport off building. Seriously, who writes this crap? No, I'm dead serious, Phil, I'm about done with this project, this motherfucking writer doesn't know what he's doing! Seriously, Stephen Colbert lost the election, but this guy just changes the canon. I'm about ready to walk off set if I don't get that goddamn orange smoothie that I asked for 30 minutes ago in the next five minutes! I'm serious, I'll walk off this motherfucker!"

A man in a suit came from behind the camera, pleading to Deadpool, "Look, we're doing the best we can. This makes as little sense to us as it does you, but everyone's loving it so far. Please, just put on a brave face and keep the fourth wall awareness down a tweak or two for act three. "

"Oh, don't you, 'keep down the fourth wall awareness,' me, Phil! I've got fuck you katanas, which means I can say fuck you to your face and anyone else and kill them, including this shitty author. Who the hell does shit this stupid for their own amusement and possible arousal? Oh, wait, forgot who the author was. I mean, seriously, look at that cue card, I'm a professional, not a reta...ope, wait, that there's an asterisk, not a quote mark. I'm supposed to do and not read. My bad, folks, no worse than working with Christian Bale, but I apologize none the less, let's just edit this whole thing out."

Deadpool then turned around once more, placing his hands on his hips and vanishing in a flash.

* * *

Superman touched down outside the massive set of buildings that made up Arkham, Batman already at his side, briefing him, "He's in the North Corridor, his lecture should be going on now. Any ideas what he's pitching?"

The duo strolled ahead to the massive hall, Clark replying, "Not a clue, but it is odd how we have a demon of immense power on the way and he's having a summit at the most insane place on Earth to sell his garbage."

"It is odd how that works out. I'll bet he's just trying to sell weapons or some security system to make the inmates' lives even more of a living Hell."

"I'll bet with you on that." Superman concurred, the man of steel and Batman entering the building.

Thought Superman thought nothing of it, Batman was struck by the silence of the building, it was usually howling with the cries of madmen. Now, all they could hear was the muffled voice of a man speaking from beyond the a set of doors down the dank cement hallway. They opened the massive doors to find a meeting in-session. Rows of folding chairs stood before a wooden stage, podium front and sent with a bald man in a gray suit, yellow undershirt, and purple tie. In the audience sat the likes of the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, a catatonic, drooling, atrophied Bane, Killer Croc in all layers of shackles, the Penguin, Scarecrow, and Two-Face. All but Croc were uncovered, only under the watch of dozens of guards and the aim of their assault rifles. Lex and the room turned silent, looking at the pair of superheroes, a smug smile spreading on the billionaire's face as he greeted, "Salutations, gentlemen, come to see the latest piece of greatness from LexCorp?"

On both sides of Lex sat two of the pieces of LexCorp technology. The first was a towering green mech-suit, the other was draped in a cloth with the company's insignia on it. "Save it, Lex," Superman demanded, "What are you doing?"

"Well, you're just in-time, gentlemen. I was just about to unveil my latest creation to these fine gentlemen who risk their lives to keep the most dangerous men of this city behind bars."

"Then why show the criminals?" Batman insisted.

"Oh, come now, Bats," his arch nemesis began, "why must you spoil all of the fun? We just got introduced to that robot your pal over there goes soft over. Speaking of going soft, how's Legs, I mean Barbra?"

"Mister Joker, I don't appreciate your brand of tasteless humor." Luthor sneered, bobbing his head in Joker's direction.

A guard moved in on Joker, slamming the but of his rifle into the clown's gut, doubling him over, breathless but managing to wheeze out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around his abdomen. "Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, I give you," Lex paused, grabbing the cloth and ripping it down, "the LexCorp Interdimensional Portal."

The device was a perfect, steel loop, the inside pock-marked with holes distanced about an inch apart, all filled with a series of glowing, green crystals. "With this, you can jump into any dimension or universe you please."

"Alright, that's enough, Lex, why did you bring this to Arkham and not your usual group of criminals in suits?" Superman inquired.

"Oh, that's simple, Superman." Lex answered, snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, Killer Croc shot up to his feet with a thunderous roar, snapping his chains as he parted his arms. A nearby guard attempted to blast him with a shotgun, but Croc ripped the gun free from the man's hand, smashing it over his head and snapping it in half. More guards from the front tried to move in and restrain him, but Deathstroke lept over the first row of chairs, using one as a vault and kicking a guard in the face, sending him flying into the stage, crashing through its wall. More guards moved in to restrain Slade but the assassin drew a small rod from the small of his back, the rod extending into his familiar staff. He spun the weapon overhead, lowering it and cracking the jaw of the nearest guard in half. Another guard moved in and attempted to subdue him, Slade turning and slamming the staff over his head. Batman and Superman ran to fight Deathstroke, but were cut off my a robot suit-clad Luthor leaping before them, Kryptonite axe in hand as he beckoned them to attack with a gesture of his finger.

* * *

Spider-Man stood before an opening slide gate at Ravencroft, two guards meeting him immediately, guns in hand, one demanding, "How can we help you?"

"I need to see Norman, Otto, and Taskmaster, it's a dire situation."

"We can't just let them go, sorry, the best we can do is let you visit them." the other replied.

Spider-Man's plea was cut off by an arm wrapping around his shoulder, the familiar merc taking over, "Guys, come on, it's Spider-Man and Deadpool you're talking to here. We're nothing but reliable here, folks. Well, you can count on me, but ol' Spidey her has a secret he isn't too willing to share."

"Deadpool, will you screw off!? Seriously, this is for life as we know it. You two, please, I have to see them and take them with me."

"Sorry, we can't let you do that. You can talk to them but, please, keep an eye on that guy, we don't want him around very often."

Deadpool waved at the guard, saying, "Jim, it's you, how could I not recognize?! How's the missus and your alcoholism? Oh, right, you were driving that night..."

"Just make it quick." the guard growled, the two parting aside to let the superheroes in.

The duo walked through the yard and into the facility, Deadpool asking, "Alright, we're in Spidey! So, what's the plan, start a riot? Shank some mouthy snitch? Break in for a sultry shower scene with extra slippery soap?"

"We're not doing any of that, Deadpool. If I tell you, will you please shut up."

"I swear, cwoss my heawt, hope to die, stick a needle thwough my eye, even thought that won't do me in."

"Alright, Bruce Banner hasn't turned into the Hulk in a while, and it grows stronger and more uncontrollable by the day. In a week he can destroy a skyscraper, or a city in a few more. We have to get him to change, but we need some people smart enough to handle it and another to help keep his moves known to us if it goes wrong."

"So, you're getting three of your worst enemies to help you control a guy who's going to turn into an unstoppable Green Giant? I'm in!"

"No, you're not, all you'll do is piss him off and make it worse."

"That's why you need me, Spidey! Brucey ain't gonna change for jack, but if I irritate him enough, boom, we got our Hulk situation all figured out."

Spider-Man groaned in frustration. Deadpool was right, if anybody could annoy Bruce out of his calm state, it was him. "Fine, but not another word, got it? Let me do the talking."

Deadpool zipped his lips and threw away the key before giving Spider-Man the thumbs up, the two pushing open a set of doors that gave way to the cafateria, the room empty save for several circular table, one having the men they were looking for. One sat in a metallic green suit, a grotesque mask clinging to his face and hiding his features, a pair of yellow eyes and a twisted, fanged maw it's only notable features. Next to him sat a brown-haired man with a pair of sunglasses, a large metal band wrapping around his abdomen and bounding his four metallic arms inside. Beside him sat a man in a skull mask, draped in a cape and a blue costume. Spider-Man and Deadpool approached the glaring villains, the former watching with caution while the other was wide-eyed, appearing to smile beneath his mask before they sat across from them. "You better have a good reason for wasting our time, Spider." the goblin growled.

"And a better reason for bringing him!" Taskmaster demanded, pointing at Deadpool, only getting a wave in response.

"Guys, listen, we don't team up often, or at all for that matter, but I need you all for your level of intelligence or, in your case, Taskmaster, predicting what will happen."

"What are you getting at, Spider-Man?" Doc Oc inquired, curiosity peaking in his voice.

"We need you to help us with the Hulk. My friend hasn't turned into him in a while and won't do it. That's why we're going to change him..."

"You want to unleash that beast in Manhattan? Good luck! He's doing the world a service if you ask me." Goblin huffed.

"Well, if we don't change him into the Hulk in another week, he'll destroy the city. If he goes for a month, hell, he'll destroy the solar system."

The three villains looked at each other for a moment, then back to the Spider with apprehension, Otto asking, "So, you came to us to help you?"

"You're the smartest I could find aside from myself and Iron Man, and I know you want to live, every one of you."

The villains shared another glance, looking back at the heroes, Goblin saying, "We'll go, but on one condition. You get me my glider and all the toys I need, get the Doctor here free, and Taskmaster all of his little trinkets."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Seems you don't have a choice in the matter, Spider. So, what will it be, our servitude in exchange for the tools of our trade, or nothing but worry and burden on you?"

Spider-Man stared at each villain, knowing they had him right where they wanted him. Finally, he conceded, "Fine, I'll do that, but you guys better keep your word. I may not do anything, but one screw up and we'll all be dead."

"Wow, way to put a damper on this fascinating chat, Spidey." Deadpool groaned, propping his head against his hand.

"Alright, we'll help you. But, there is one more problem, how do we get out?" Otto asked.

"That's where he finally comes in handy, for once." Spider-Man answered, pointing at Deadpool.

"Hey!"

"Deadpool, if we all hold hands..."

"Yes, that still makes it gay, Spidey."

"No, you idiot, if we hold hand with you, will we teleport with you?"

"Uh, I guess. I don't know, it depends on how this lazy writer makes it work."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, everybody hold hands and say your prayers." Deadpool said, rising from his seat and holding his hands out.

Slowly, the villains joined hands with one another and the heroes, Norman demanding, "First stop is OsCorp, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, here goes nothin', folks."

With that, the group disappeared in another flash, the sirens blaring in the institution as soon as they did.

**Hello, folks, DAM here with another long-awaited update for Vale between Worlds...**

**That's a bit of a bold overstatement, don't you think?**

**Oh, God, you're here already.**

**Are you kidding me?! After this vile miscarriage of an update, I feel it'd be a crime if I didn't confront you on behalf of Marvel, DC, and RWBY. Seriously, two months for this?!**

**Hey, you have to leave them wanting more, right?**

**Everyone hates cliffhangers, that's why everyone hates you. Do you think Scarecrow does this? No, he doesn't, he solves it all in one chapter and leaves a separate, new element of the plot for the next chapter.**

**How do you know that, have you read anything he's written? And what does he have to do with this? You know what, I can already tell this is going nowhere. Thanks everyone for the great support of me, this story, and my other works, now don't forget to cite your DAM sources.**

**And don't forget to come up with a better ending tagline, homo!**


	4. Collision

Ruby trotted through the forest near Beacon, heading off towards the Cliffs with a piece of lined, crumpled notebook paper in both hands. Yang and Blake jogged along, trying to keep up with the quick huntress while Weiss lagged behind, the heiress strolling along with her arms crossed and a displeased look on her face. Weiss arms suddenly went flailing into the air to regain her balance, her right heel catching an exposed root of a tree and buckling to the side, sending the heiress sprawling in a puff of dust. "Ruby, how much longer do we have to look for this stupid treasure? You have no idea how hard it is to walk in heels through a forest! I, mean, combat footwear." Weiss demanded, pounding her legs and arms into the ground in her tantrum.

"Yeah, Ruby, can we maybe take five? We've been following you all the way here and we're not exactly as fast as you." Yang pleaded, doubled over with her hands on her knees.

Blake too was hunched over, one hand on the corresponding knee while the other was propped against a tree, while Weiss got back to her feet, patting the dirt off of her dress and skirt. Ruby skidded to a stop further ahead, turning and stating,"We're almost there, guys. Just a little way to go, I've got the map!"

"The map?" the trio inquired in unison.

"Yeah, I wrote the directions down when I was listening to the professors. Don't you remember me telling you guys that?"

The heiress, faunus, and brawler only stared at each other in confusion, Ruby declaring, "Well, quit wasting time, we have to go just a little further and we're almost done!"

With that, Ruby darted ahead once more, a puff of air and rose petals all that was left of the hooded huntress' presence. Groaning and tired, the trio pushed ahead once more, Weiss casually strutting ahead with her usual grace as she wondered aloud, "How much forest is left? We have to be near the Cliffs. Why in the world would they put it so far from campus?"

On the other end of the line, Ruby was nearing the edge of the forest, the clearing revealing the dense canopy going on beyond the Beacon Cliffs. Exiting the tree line, Ruby skidded to a stop mere feet from the edge of the cliff, her upper body leaning ahead of her for a moment before quickly snapping back as she regained her balance. She brought the piece of paper before her, her shining smile only growing as her eyes scanned it and she reached into her pouch, producing a pen. She feverishly scribbled out a line of text, signifying one of the many objectives they'd meet on this hunt had come to an end. She couldn't spare another moment, looking up and losing her breath as she was overtaken by the beauty of the view. The sun was at high-noon in the sky, the chatter of cicadas beating through the hot, humid air. A cool breeze slowly drifted over Ruby, the huntress closing her eyes and let it cool the hot sweat forming on her, the paper in her hands and her bangs fluttering rhythmically before her. She could feel herself teeter back and forth in the peace. She was no longer at a campus for students being trained to protect kingdoms with lethal force. She was no longer burdened with school work. She simply had what she had set out to have since that morning: a perfect day.

Her alone time was interrupted by a soft hand resting on her shoulder, Ruby reluctantly opening her eyes and turning to see her sister beside her, taking in the view every bit as much as her younger sibling. Soon, they were joined by Blake and Weiss, the faunus marveling at the view while Weiss stared on with disinterest. "Wow, it's beautiful." Yang commented.

"It is. I can't believe we didn't notice it earlier this semester." Blake responded.

"I only wonder why. It was almost like we were catapulted into the Emerald Forest. Oh, wait..." Weiss began.

"Oh, Weiss, don't you remember? That's exactly what happened! Come on, get with the program, silly!" Ruby interjected, running her hand so rapidly through Weiss' scalp that it nearly set her hair on fire.

Ruby ceased her unintentional assault on Weiss, the heiress holding her smoking head as Yang asked, "So, Ruby, where do we go now?"

"Uh, what?"

"You know, for the scavenger hunt prize, treasure, whatever we're out her for?" Blake added.

"Um...oh, OH, yeah! It says we have to go down to the Emerald Forest to find."

"Wait, we have to go_ into _Emerald Forest?! Are you out of your mind?! It's crawling with Grimm!" Weiss cried out.

"Well, the professors weren't exactly concerned when they threw us down there, and we handled it pretty well before a semester of school. This should be pretty easy now." Blake retorted.

"But...but..." Weiss stammered.

"Oh, come on, Weiss, where's your sense of adventure," Yang asked, slapping Weiss' back and the air from her body, "Besides, we've got this, just like Blake said!"

Weiss had to swallow a scream of anger and instead let out a defeated sigh, unsheathing and aiming her Myrtenaster ahead. The revolver on the rapier abruptly spun around, giving off a white glow as a small white glyph appeared at the tip of the sword, many larger ones appearing before the team that descended down into the forest floor like a staircase.

* * *

A jarring crack preceded the Dark Knight soaring back into the wall of the meeting room, groaning for a moment before regaining his bearings. Batman barely got to his feet before he had to dive out of the way of a podium soaring at him, the wooden stand crashing through the cinder block wall and obliterating itself on impact. The man responsible for the assault reared back in his battle suit in laughter, the robotic hands rested against the hips of the bald villain. Luthor was sent sailing back as Superman nailed him across the jaw with a loaded punch, the suited crook sailing back into the wall, knocking a decent dent into it, and slid down to his seat. Acting fast, Luthor tapped a button on the cuff of his left arm, getting to his feet with a cocky smile and crossed arms. Superman flew at the mechanized menace, bringing his fist back and unloading on Luthor once more. However, his force only worked against him as a formerly invisible force field now glowed bright, vivid green, a surge of electric current hitting Superman. The Man of Steel flew back with a cry of pain, crashing down on the now empty collection of chairs. "What's the matter, Superman, can't take a little blast of Kryptonite?"

"He may not, but I can." Batman rebutted, on a knee as he hurled a blinking batarang at Lex.

The shuriken spiraled ahead at an undaunted Luthor, letting off a burst of blinding blue energy as it hit the overshield of Luthor, breaking it like glass in an instant. Luthor growled at his now useless defenses and barreled ahead at Batman. The Dark Knight bided his time before springing up at the Luthor, clasping a hand over the bald man's head before being knocked aside by a backhanded swing of the robotic suit's arm. Luthor took notice to a blinking just above his line of vision, a batarang stuck to his forehead and exploding moments after he took notice. The suit stumbled backwards as smoked billowed out of the open top, clearing and revealing a charred but mostly unharmed Luthor, his pupil's dilated and ears ringing from the blast of the close-proximity flashbang. Taking the opportunity, Superman flew into Luthor and took him over his shoulder and taking them both through the stone wall. An instant later, Superman came crashing back through another portion of the wall, tumbling to a stop as Luthor stepped back out of the hole he had sent the Man of Steel through. "Can you hit me with more than one opportunistic blow at a time, Superman? It's getting to be quite annoying when you won't even fight fair at this rate."

"Then let me give it a try!" Batman countered.

Lex turned as Batman came soaring down at him with the aid of his grapple gun, cannonball kicking the billionaire right in the center of his face and sending his mech suit stumbling backwards once more. Batman landed on his feet and let the momentum assist him as he sprinted at Luthor, leaping up at him and twisting in mid-air before nailing him across the jaw with a jump spin kick. Batman used the inertia of his spin to continue on and hit Luthor with a left hook as well, nearly dislocating his jaw. Before he could react, Luthor's leg shot up and caught him in the chest, sending Batman flying up into the ceiling, hitting it hard before crashing back to the floor. Luthor stood above the defeated Knight, raising his foot to stomp him until Superman flew into him once more, turning upwards and taking them both through the ceiling.

While the arch enemies duked it out, Deathstroke stood above an unconscious guard, peering maliciously through his one eye hole. His attention was brought back as he heard the charging of an electrified baton behind him, the terminator turning to see he and the room full of villains was now surrounded by armed guards. "Slade, drop your weapons and get to your knees, you can't take all of us!"

"You're right, gentlemen, I can't beat you all at once. So I'll dismantle your petty army, one piece at a time."

Not taking kindly to his words, a trio of guards charged at Deathstroke, the assassin bringing his staff diagonally before him, the top end aimed in the guards' direction. The first guard to reach him took a wild, horizontal swing at his head, Deathstroke easily ducking it and jamming the end of his staff right beneath the guard's sternum. The guard doubled over, sucking air as the assassin rolled over his back, clubbing the next guard over the head head with his staff held like a baseball bat in one hand. Using the momentum, the assassin spun around to the guard he used as a vault and swung up into his ribs, knocking him into the air. He turned his attention to the last guard, stepped up and hit him with a side kick to the throat, sending him sailing back and taking a few guards down with him. Deathstroke turned back one more time as the guard he knocked into the air came back down, winding up and slamming his stuff into his stomach, sending the guard flying into the stage, his back popping on impact. "Why me?" he murmured pitifully.

Deathstroke found more guards advancing on him, spinning his energy lance before him before balancing it against his lower back with one hand, beckoning the crowd forward with a gesture of his hand. Before more guards could descend on and subdue the assassin, Killer Croc barreled through the crowd of guards advancing on Deathstroke, guards being flung in all directions like ragdolls. The Joker, hitching a ride on the freak's shoulder, saluted to him as he said, "Thanks for the ride old sport! I'll be sure to tip you an extra strip of raw bacon at the feeding pit tonight."

Killer Croc growled in disgust, he would have crushed the annoying clown had he not lept off his shoulder and dropkicked the nearest guard in the face. Joker reared back on his shoulders and kicked back up to his feet, his fist brought up before him for a round of fisticuffs. One guard carelessly strolled at him, baton lowered as the Joker put a hand on his hip and the other on the flower on his chest. The mad man gave the flower a squeeze and let loose a stream of yellow liquid on the unwitting guard's face. The man's face instantly began to bubble and the flesh sloughed off, the guard throwing himself to his back and clutching his scalding face as steam rose off of it, much to the sick laughter of the Joker. Not being taken so lightly anymore, four more guards moved in to subdue the Joker. Delighted by the attention, Joker waited as one guard hacked down at him with his sparking club, only for the clown to catch his wrist, wagging his finger before his face and tisking him. "Come on now, sport, you have to follow through and keep your eye," Joker continued, jamming his fore and middle finger into the man's eyes, "on the ball!"

With that, Joker reared his leg back and threw it forward, nailing the man directly in the crotch. The guard collapsed to the side, holding his groin, and Joker turned his attention to the other guards spreading out around him. The guards convened on the Joker at once, the clown charging at the one in front of him and put his heel into his manhood, pushing off of him and flipping over a pair of simultaneous baton swings, landing on his knees before shooting his fists to his sides and jabbing both men in the crotch on either side of him. The guard he vaulted off of limped towards him, the Joker producing a playing card and flinging it at the guard. The playing card spun right for the guard's face, the razor-sharp edge tearing into his cheeks and cutting a grotesque rat smile from the corner of his mouth to halfway up his cheek, the disfigured man turning and stumbling ahead in shock, screaming. Another guard bounded past the wounded one the Joker had dealt with, swinging for his temple but the clown leaned back and narrowly avoided the blow, the baton millimeters from the tip of his nose. Without regaining his vertical basis, Joker shot his hand up and clasped his fingers over the guard's testicles, the joy buzzer sending a jolt through his body and making him spout of electricity-induced babble. "Quite a shock to the boys, eh?" the Joker laughed.

The Joker's death grip was broken and the clown was sent flopping to his back as a guard's foot swung up under his chin. The clown brought his hand before him to block the incoming swing of the baton, pleading, "Please, not the face!"

His prayer was met when a blast preceded a bright line of energy flying through the guard's chest, a perfect circle carved through him. The corpse collapsed down onto the clown, the Joker using holding it over himself like a shield as more guards charged past him and towards Deathstroke.

Yet another guard took a swing at Deathstroke, the assassin dropping down beneath the hit and, using his free hand as a pivot, swept his legs around and took the guard off his feet. Deathstroke spun a full 180 and sprung backwards on his one hand, flipping feet-first onto his chest. Deathstroke executed one more back flip, rocketing the downed guard into his rising ally by the stage, knocking them both through the weakened wooden wall. The assassin landed in the middle of a circle of guards in a three-point stance. The circle collapsed in on the assassin, Deathstroke leaping up and performing the splits in mid-air, each foot connecting with a guard's jaw on each side of him. Simultaneously, the assassin raised his staff over his head and slammed it over the crown of the skull of the guard before him. The lance suddenly fired off a beam back at Deathstroke, the beam going under his crotch and right through the forehead of the guard behind him, dropping the hollow-skulled guard instantly. Deathstroke landed on his feet once more and caught a swing of one guard in his free hand, booting him in the chest and sending him flying off as another guard swung down from behind him. Acting on instinct, Deathstroke caught the attack behind him with his staff, swinging it upward and catching the guard beneath his chin, the man taken off his feet and flopping on the back of his head. He turned to the last guard of the circle cowering in fear, dropping his baton and raising his hand to surrender. "The biggest cowards are always the one's who bruise the most easily, aren't they?" Deathstroke pondered.

Deathstroke held his staff horizontally before him, glaring his fearful foe down. He swung one side of his staff ahead and caught the guard in the ribs, the swung the other side and caught him in the other. The guard doubled over as the assassin held his staff vertically and repeated the process, quickly striking the guard over the head and up into the crotch. Still hunkered over in pain, the guard couldn't save himself as Deathstroke hooked the staff around the back of his neck before unleashing a savage knee to the nose. The guard collapsed and the assassin was once more being approached by a small militia of guards. His eye catching a point of interest beyond them, Deathstroke charged the guards and, just before contacting them, used his staff to vault over the guards. He tucked into a ball as he barreled back through the air, catching himself with one hand and balancing himself on the metal chair the incapacitated Bane sat at, dropping his staff as he grabbed a tube hanging limply over the back of his chair and plugged it into a port on the back of Bane's mask. Deathstroke dropped down from the chair and regained his staff, a semicircle of guards all around him and shoving chairs out of the way. To their surprise, the assassin raised his staff and free hand above his head, stating, "Alright, you've got me, I surrender..."

The men froze in fear, staring in horror as a monstrous shadow was cast over Deathstroke, the assassin pointing his thumb back and continuing, "As soon as he does."

With that, Deathstroke lunged to the side as Bane held a folded chair in each head, slammed them over the unfortunate guards to be in their path. The heads of the guards poked through the flat seats amidst the jagged metal all around their faces, collapsing forward as Bane clasped his massive paws over the heads of two more guards, throwing them head-first into one another and crushing them inward on the point of impact.

Amidst the chaos, Penguin, Two-Face, and Harley Quinn fiddled with a remote control for the portal, having no luck starting it and being easily distracted by the action behind them. "Oi, this tin can lid is a real crock that don't even work! The only thing Lex Luthor gave us was extended sentences!" Penguin protested.

"Kinda hard to extend a life sentence, don't you think, Cobblepot?" the disfigured Two-Face speculated.

"Kinda hard for you to to lend me a hand isn't it, you hideous bastard?! Cut the muckin' around and help me!"

"Will you two quit fightin' already! I haven't seen Mister Jay in a few minutes in all this, I hope my puddin's okay! I'll kill anyone who lays a finger on him!" Harley worried, hefting a purple and green aluminum bat over her shoulder.

"If he would have told us the bloody button we press to open the damn thing, we wouldn't be in this mess as long as we've been, now would we?"

"Just shut up, King of the Lollipop Guild, and keep hitting buttons."

"Whatever you say, Burnt Marshmallow."

"Hey, knock it off! One more spat between you two idiots and I'll beat you around a bit with this here bat."

"How about this one does it for you?" a deep, haunting voice asked.

The three villains turned in unison to the threat, the Dark Knight towering before them. Harley brought her bat back and swung it at Batman, who easily caught the weapons and wretched it from her grip. Angry, Harley tried to catch the Dark Knight with a slap to the face, only for her wrist to be caught in his intense grip. "Jerk."

Before he could begin interrogating, Penguin and Two-Face closed in on Batman. Without an ounce of trouble, Batman stepped towards Harvey's direction and kicked him in the side of the knee, making it buckle and sending him down on it before another kick to the side of the head sent him skidding down the stage. Batman turned to a waddling Cobblepot planted his boot directly in the diminuitive man's face, sending him flopping back and rolling over his shoulders, groaning into the wooden stage. "Jeez, some help Luthor hired."

Batman took Harley's other wrist and brought her in, face-to-face as he demanded, "What is Luthor up to and why are you helping him?"

"Ha, wouldn't you like to know, Bats? You really think I'm gonna tell you that easy?"

"No, I didn't plan on it, so I'll make you talk."

"Oh, sheesh, gag me with a spoon, Batman. Save us both the time and ask him, he knows all about it."

"She's right," a spine-chilling, hoarse voice hissed, a sharp pain jabbing into his ribs, "no need to be afraid of the unknown, Batman!"

Try as he might, Batman could not resist the potency of the fear toxins now coursing in his body, falling to his knees, weak from the poison. He looked up as Harley regained her bat, her feminine figure replaced with that of a dark being with glowing red eyes and needle-like teeth, bringing the bat over her shoulder and declaring, "Batter up!"

Harley let the swing fly right into the Batman's temple, echoing with a metallic ting and sickening crack, knocking him out-cold. "Nice work, Scare-Man, now help me help these bozos get us in that portal!"

"As you wish, clown." Scarecrow replied, assisting Cobblepot to his feet as Harley did the same with Harvey.

As they assisted their comrades, a thunderous crashed overtook all other noise that was going on throughout the room, large hunks of concrete exploding form the ceiling as a massive blast erupted in the center of the room, sending inmates flying onto the stage and guards to the opposite side of the room. A shadow loomed out of the smoking crater, Superman standing tall and unscathed before it, glaring at the intimidated group of villains before him. "Come quietly and we won't have any more problems, I might not even have to break bones if you're good enough."

Their collective gulps were held off as a stomach-churning slice hit the air, Superman crying out in shock and agony before falling flat on his chest, a glowing, green axe lodged in his back. Luthor stood tall over his foe, making sure to step on his foe and press the axe deeper into his flesh as he walked by him. "I have to admit, I actually felt that last little thing you hit me with, Superman. Driving me up into the atmosphere and ramming me back down to Earth, that would have put down a lesser man. But, all to no avail to be me as usual. Now, if you don't mind," he continued, hoisting himself up on the stage and taking the remote from Penguin, "I have a plan to complete."

* * *

Bruce Banner sat alone once more in his lab, slumped over against the wall in deep slumber. For once, he was not plagued by horrific nightmares, able to sleep peacefully and without a dream. His peace was broken as the door to his office swung open once more, revealing his wealthy ally in a suit, tie, and briefcase in one hand. The two met eyes as Stark froze in place, looking around the room and saying, "Well, I guess Peter wanted me here to get an intervention started on your hoarding."

Bruce only stared up at his comrade with exhaustion, blandly stating, "So Peter did come through and get a hold of you. Now I'm starting to regret that decision."

"Glad to see you too, Bruce, so what's the full context of this situation that may cost my company millions?"

The groggy scientist forced himself up to his knees, the lightness of his head making him rear back on his heels and nearly lose his balance. The scientist snapped back as Tony quipped, "Oh, Bruce, this takes me back to my drinking days. Only it was me realizing how much of a waste I was making my life."

"Tony," Bruce growled, "now is not the time for this. We need Peter to get back here before we start anything else."

"So, now what? Just sit here quietly and stare at each other?"

"That's exactly what we should do."

Tony took a deep breath and let out a sigh, placing his briefcase down before seating himself on a stool behind him. The two stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, Bruce's gaze zombie-like while Tony was wide-eyed and attentive, alternating his view to the scientist and his twiddling thumbs. Their bond of silence was ended as a sudden burst of light erupted between them, both men shielding their eyes as the blast left five costume-clad men before them, one's back radiating with metal arms while another in green floated above the rest on his signature glider. "Nice work, Spider-Man, would have been right on cue about five minutes ago." Tony jabbed, checking his platinum watch.

"Always a pleasure to do business with you too. Now, let's sit down and hammer out exactly what we have to do before we do anything else." Spider-Man responded.

"Wait," Bruce erupted, "Why is _he _here?!"

The group turned to look at what Bruce was distressed at, finding Deadpool jamming away on glass beakers with a pair of long stirring rods like he were a drummer, making cymbal crash and drum beating noises with his mouth. He brought his arms high overhead and slammed the glass rods down onto a pair of beakers, snapping the rods and shattering the beakers as he exclaimed, "Hello, Houston! OW!"

Bruce doubled over and vigorously rubbed his temples, muttering, "Why did you bring him?! You shouldn't have brought him here!"

"Bruce, I'm sorry, I'm _really _sorry. But he wouldn't leave me alone, plus he got all of us out of Ravencroft. If I could have made him leave, I would have."

"Hey, are you guys talking about me," Deadpool inquired, appearing behind Spider-Man and the menagerie of villains, "I know, great drum solo. Hot for Teacher, if you couldn't tell. Hey, Brucey, what's up big guy?! Long time no see, how's the cucumber hangin'?"

Deadpool skipped to the scientist and lifted him up in a strong embrace, nuzzling his cheek against his chest as Bruce wheezed for air. "Deadpool, stop! Don't make him mad just yet, we have to figure out what we're going to do." Spider-Man ordered.

"Great plan so far, Spider, bringing him along for this. The world as we know it is already doomed." Goblin hissed, arms crossed as he stood tall on his glider.

"I can already tell this is going to end badly." Taskmaster added.

"Will you all shut up and get that idiot off of Bruce before he does something even dumber?" Tony demanded.

"Hey, that sounds like a challenge," Deadpool shouted, dropping Bruce and continuing, "If you thought that was dumb, wait until you see this!"

With that, Deadpool shot his head forward and drove the top of his head into Bruce's nose, the scientist flopping back with tears filling his eyes and holding his broken and bleeding appendage. "Deadpool, you idiot, stop!" Spider-Man screamed, a stream of web hitting the merc in the back and hauling him into the Spider.

The Spider hoisted the merc up by a fistful of Deadpool's costume over his chest, continuing, "Do you have any idea what you've just done?! You've opened Pandora's Box!"

"Oh, please, Spidey, we have more to worry about than music streaming, look." Deadpool replied turning and pointing back at Bruce.

The men looked on in horror as Bruce was on all fours, heaving and letting off primal growls as every vein in his body was forced to the surface. His eyes shot open as he looked up at men before him, his irises bright green, blood vessels bulging out of his neck as he pleaded in an inhumanly deep voice, "Help...me!"

Soon, the scientist's skin turned greener and greener, growing in size as he did so until his lab coat was nothing but shreds on the ground, his jeans now barely functioning as shorts on the giant that had appeared. The Hulk slowly rose to his feet, his face furrowed in fury as he lurched forward and let out a titanic roar. The heroes and villains were petrified in awe, Deadpool putting the back of his hand to his cheek and whispering to Spider-Man, "So, did anyone else where their brown pants today?"

The Hulk barreled ahead at the unmoving beings, Otto snapping from his trance and shooting his top tentacles ahead at the giant. The behemoth didn't even flinch as he caught the clawed ends in both of his massive paws, retching them forward and sending the genius flying at him. Hulk brought his bulky foot and caught the soaring Octopus directly in the chest, sending him sailing back into the crowd and taking the Goblin off his glider, the duo collapsing in a winded heap on the ground. "Spider-Man, come with me, I've got a plan!" Taskmaster instructed.

The skull and spider flanked the Hulk, Taskmaster beginning, "Alright, first we..."

The villain was cut off by the Hulk back hand him across the head, sending Taskmaster flying into the wall with a ear-popping thud. Spider-Man now stared down an enraged Hulk by himself, bringing his fists before him and saying, "Alright, Bruce, let's do this."

The Hulk swung first with with a massive slap of his right hand, Spider-Man folding backwards, avoiding the blow and hitting the Hulk under the chin with a backflip kick. He was caught in mid-air by the shin in the Hulk's massive hand, the Hulk slamming him about like a ragdoll as Deadpool charged in with swords drawn, crying, "Hey, get off my buddy, you fiend!"

Hulk took notice to the charging merc and brought Spider-Man overhead, using him like a hammer and slamming him down on Deadpool, crushing them both into the floor as Deadpool groaned, "Hey, buddy, get off me!"

Hulk stepped over them both and advanced towards the opposite end of the room, a slate white, concrete wall all that was there. Before the Hulk could take a half a dozen steps, a familiar voice cried out, "Bruce, stop!"

The Hulk froze in place, slowly turning itself around step-by-step to find Tony pleading with it, "You can't do this. Peter and I are your friends. You have to fight this and help us help you. I know you can hear me in there."

The Hulk crept towards Tony, breathing heavily through his nostrils down on the billionaire he towered over, his expression seemingly calm. He slowly brought his fist up before Tony's face, instantly shooting his forefinger out and flicking Tony back like a fly into a metal cabinet, denting it in. The Hulk let off another victorious roar before turning and charging at the wall. As he neared it, the behemoth of rage reared back on one foot with a boulder-sized fist cocked and throwing it forward. Several things coincided with this action. The air around the Hulk ignited, encasing the giant in an inferno like a meteor. A shockwave of energy was emitted from him as well, throwing everyone behind him against the walls in a heap. In the middle of it all, Tony was screaming and holding out a hand to stop him in vain, "NO!"

* * *

The moment Lex pressed the correct combination of buttons, all Hell broke loose. The machine's lights lit up far brighter than he expect, the glass bulbs exploding in seconds. The black, swirling vortex that was the wormhole appeared in the metal ring but, instead of being contained, it grew in size until it appeared to be a large rip in the fabric of reality itself at the end of the stage. It had now radiated an intense blue light, alternating striations of blue and black appearing within it in a traceable pattern. Luthor reared back and tried with all his might to avoid the immense force sucking him in, throwing himself to his stomach and digging his fingers into the wooden floor of the stage. It was all for not as he was sucked back, his body raised off the ground and fingers tear four long, deep channels in the floor until he was ripped off the ground, tumbling into it and screaming in fear. He vanished instantly upon contacting the void, the other villains sucked helplessly in along with him. The vortex only steadily grew in size with its new victims, shattering the stage and sending a crack straight down through the floor and into the earth. The chasm dug its way down until it hit an air pocket deep within the Earth's crust beneath Arkham, light shining down on a dark gray figure, a pair of piercing red eyes breaking through the rest of the darkness.

* * *

Back in New York City, the Hulk had torn an identical rift into the space-time continuum, the infuriated and ignited giant absorbed into the vortex immediately. The room now basked in the eerie near-darkness, the room barely illuminated by the seemingly intense blue light coming from before them. "What the hell is that?!" Tony cried as he and the rest of the group reconvened a safe distance away.

"That's one of the things Bruce was afraid of," Peter shouted, the men barely able to hear him over the tornado of sound before them, "He said punching wormholes into reality like this was two weeks away then said it may be sooner. But one day?! Jesus!"

"Everybody, get back!" Tony ordered.

The men all tried their best to escape, Taskmaster turning to hightail it before he was arched backwards by the force of his cape being sucked back. Eventually, the skull was taken off his feet and sent flying into the wormhole, vanishing instantly upon contact. Doc Oc shot his tentacles back behind him, the spear-like appendages skewering the stone wall and opening inside it, anchoring him in. Stark tried to sprint for his briefcase, reaching out for it and being a narrow fingertip out of his grasp before it flew back and nailed him between the eyes, sending him tumbling through the air and into the rift. Spider-Man shot a web back at the wall and held onto it for dear life, the webslinger flailing madly in the Gale sucking force while the Green Goblin put his glider into overdrive. The fire exiting its reared burned massive, bright, and hot, barely moving him forward at all under the extreme forces pulling it back. Deadpool, however, darted towards the rifts, shouting at the top of his lungs, "LEEROY JENKINS!"

The merc lept into the air, slapping his hand together and maintaining a straight posture as he dove into the rift. "What an idiot." Spider-Man muttered.

"Only a fool calls out the fools, Spider!" Goblin declared.

Spider-Man looked over his shoulder to find the barely advancing madman hefting a metallic pumpkin with bat-like wings. Before he could utter a plea, Goblin hurled the razor bat at Spider-Man's web just before his hands, slicing it in two and sending the shocked webslinger flying back towards the vortex. "Oh, no, I'm not going down without you two!"

In one last effort, Spider-Man shot his hands forward and unleashed a pair of weblines, one sticking in the Goblin's lower back and the other in Doc Oc's chest. His backward advancement was ended with a snap has he was held in place for a moment by the super villains, Goblin unable to control his glider's movement as it spun around, rocketing him straight into the portal and ripping Otto free as a result, he and the Spider plummeting into the wormhole, leaving it only to steadily expand larger and larger.

* * *

The scene was split between two different universes. In one, a towering, red demon sit atop an equally massive throne, the sky a dark crimson above his resting head. The demon's eyes, all four, shot wide open as gust of wind began to blow up on him. The overlord looked up and his confusion turned to an absolutely evil grin as he saw a portal growing rapidly above him, his eyes alone being able to see a land that once nearly belonged to him. Jump City was now in his sights.

Meanwhile, a dark cell was abruptly illuminated by another, smaller portal, revealing a man clad in metal armor from head-to-toe, a green hood over his head and extending down his back like a cape. His mad, bloodshot eyes were greeted by the sight of a large T-shaped tower just beyond the wormhole. Suddenly, four glowing red eyes appeared in the portal, a deep, demonic voice beckoning, "Victor von Doom, fulfill my destiny and you will have whatever it is a heart like yours desires."

* * *

Team RWBY wandered towards the ruins deep within the Emerald Forest, Ruby looking over her directions once more with a gleeful smile as Yang and Weiss stared on at the magnificent ruins. Further back, Blake's faunus ears were perked up high as she looked towards the heavens, calling out, "Hey guys, we've got company."

The trio turned to see what their comrade was talking about, only finding her looking straight up and pointing as well. The girls tentatively turned their eyes to the sky to find dozens of bodies growing larger and coming closer to the ground.

**Hello, everybody, and welcome back to A Vale between Worlds! I have to agree with everyone and say it has been FAR too long but I hope it is worth the wait for all of you! I'm really sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. Work, school, and other events kept me pretty preoccupied and I was trying to make this as good of a chapter as possible since it's the first big fight scene of many more to come! No need to worry about a Merc with a Mouth crashing our party, he's currently trapped between dimensions at the moment and unable to interrupt.**

***Muffled* What are you talking about you idiot?! You locked me out of your room. **

**Hey, this is my office!**

**Oh, yeah, an office where you write bad FanFiction and watch porn, how convenient!**

**Whatever, I'm not getting into it any deeper with you. See you guys for four more updates on this and then we switch gears to GTA: Vale! See you all next time and thank you all so much for your support, I can't express how much it means to me.**

**HA, GAAAAAAAY!**

**Ignoring that, leave a little love here, on my other stuff, and with my friends, and don't forget to cite your DAM sources!**


	5. Rendezvous

Superman looked in horror at the vortex that spiraled and grew before him, holding itself in mid-air amidst the fabric of existence itself, his cape flapping madly before the floating hero. Superman was hardly aware of Batman's presence, let alone the effects he was feeling of a mild form of Scarecrow's fear toxins. Superman continued to stare on at the wormhole, wrapped in his own awe and unknowingness of what to do. His partner soon groaned and, trembling, pushed himself up on his hands and knees, rearing back on the latter and staring indifferently at the vortex. Soon, the toxins could no longer impair the Dark Knight, Bruce's eyes flying open in the same degree of shock that Clark's did. Still lightheaded and weak, Bruce tentatively rose to his feet, his expression once more as brooding as it always had been. "So, now what do we do?" Batman inquired.

"We can't shut it down, the machine was engulfed by its own wormhole. It's growing too, so we better act fast." Superman urged.

"Well, it's not like patching a hole in your clothes. This is a ripple in space and time itself."

"I know. But we can't let it go unchecked. Who knows what it can do. Swallow the city? World? The universe?"

"Well, that's a positive outlook." Batman quipped.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Batman began to tremble immensely, as if an earthquake had sparked beneath his very feet. The ground exploded beneath the Dark Knight, rocketing him into the air, unable to save himself from being sucked towards the wormhole. Acting quickly, Batman pulled a gun from his belt and let loose a grappling hook and wire with the pull of a trigger. The claws of the grapple gun hooked onto the opening of the deep crater opposite of where Bruce had flown, precariously anchoring him in as he flailed madly in the air at the end of his rope. He looked back at the source his unwanted flight, finding a hulking, gray figure standing on the other side of the hole with its back to Bruce.

Superman was petrified by what stood before him. The gray beast heaved as it breathed, rage radiating from every fiber of the being's being. Sharp, bone-like structures jutted off all over his body, forming a sort of armor and giving it an extra weapon in certain areas. Raggedy white hair flowed down the back of its head and to its shoulders, the being rippling with muscle over every inch of its body. Superman snapped out of his trance and sneered at the beast, hissing, "Doomsday."

The being that had been left to die with the universe untold aeons in the future, recognizing its name, let out a ferocious roar, saliva flying out in the gail and draping over its chin. The very ground beneath them trembled from the force of the cry, the ground Bruce so desperately clung to gave way just enough to dislodge his lifeline, sending him, too, was sucked in, letting out a distressed yell before vanishing.

Doomsday took notice to the call and turned to find the wormhole looming before him. The two titans stood for what could have been an eternity, Superman unsure of what the next move should be. Doomsday made his by peering over his shoulder, looking directly at the Man of Steel, and flashing a spine-chilling, sadistic grin. He turned once more and sprinted towards the wormhole, Superman readying to fly after him before he froze in mid-air, his arms bent and legs sprung to hurl himself forward at a moment's notice. He should stop him, he knew, but what loomed ahead was too tempting. Doomsday was an immeasurable threat, no way around it. And there was no telling what lie beyond that portal. However, all that was outweighed by one simple fact. Doomsday would be gone. Most likely not forever, as he had somehow escaped entropy that destroyed all of existence. But being wherever it took him was better than having him here. Besides, wherever he went would most likely preoccupy him so much he'd have no reason to come back. Superman relaxed himself and watched as Doomsday stormed into the opening, fading rather than abruptly disappearing like all the others, as if he were in a blizzard.

Superman fell to his feet, staring on at the wormhole once more and instantly regretting what he had done. He may have saved this universe but he had doomed another. Worse yet, he had abandoned his friend so selfishly, as if he meant nothing to him. Bruce would have tried to stop Doomsday but Superman sat back and let Doomsday do as he wish. He knew why. Fear. He was ruled by it now. He feared Doomsday. He stood like a petrified child before his own boogeyman. Now that boogeyman had spread to more people, acting as a new nightmare for whoever was now stuck with him. No, he resolved. Never again would anything like this happen to him or would he sit idly by when evil presented itself in any form. No. He knew what must be done.

Without any hesitation, Superman hurled into the void. Instantly, he was basked in an unwaveringly intense blue light, nearly blurring out his being. He turned to the entrance and snapped his fingers onto the two folds of reality that had been snapped. Letting out a inhuman shout and straining his entire body, Superman slowly inched the two halves together. As excruciating as it was, the Man of Steel's drive was not deterred. With an increased volume in his shriek and burst of adrenaline, Superman slammed the edges together. The ripple had sewn itself shut instantly, the force of the void sucking on him increasing to the point he could no longer hold out, being drawn deeper into it.

* * *

In New York, the void had shut itself at the same pace and instant it had in Gotham. In Jump City, however, it slowly began to shut until it froze at the size of a bowling ball in the sky. Citizens stopped all over the city to watch as it expanded once more, nearly eclipsing the sky itself before a massive red hand, long, sharp nails radiating off each digit, protruded from it.

* * *

Team RWBY watched as the figures plummeted to the ground, groups falling off together in different places throughout the woods all around the clearing. The girls all looked at each other with stern faces, giving off a nod before turning and sprinting into the woods

Blake had just broken the treeline before she began to bound between tree trunks, going higher into the air with each leap. Nearing the canopy, Blake skidded to a stop on a massive branch, placing her hand on the trunk of the tree as she closed her eyes and listened, the ears hidden beneath her bow quivering as they picked up a sound. It was a voice, a frantic man crying out, "Jesus, is he okay?! Bruce?! BRUCE!?"

A group of men huddled around one in particular, his clothes tattered and lying unconscious in the arms of one clad in red and blue, a man in a suit holding a suitcase looking on with deep worry. "Where are we?" Bruce uttered, barely able to get the air in to fuel his words.

"I don't know, but we sure as hell aren't in Kansas, Toto!" Spider-Man snapped.

"Oh, glad to see you're taking this seriously, Peter! What happened to him?"

"I don't know. If I had a guess, I'd say he burnt out the energy he stored up as soon as he did that. God only knows where he took us."

"You're in Remnant," a female's voice answered, the men's heads spinning around to find a girl clad in black and white behind them, "Hi, I'm Blake. Are you people friendly?"

Spider-Man rose to face the girl, lying Bruce flat while Tony watched over him, the hero looking at the girl as their eyes simultaneously narrowed. "Yeah, you can say we are." Spider-Man slowly stated.

"How do I know that for sure? Why are you in the Emerald Forest?" Blake asked.

"Look, lady, this is gonna sound nuts, but we fell out of the sky. Our friend here ripped open a wormhole and took us here."

"_He _did?" Blake said with a obvious tone of skepticism, pointing at the out-cold man in nothing but ripped pants.

"Trust me, he does way more when he transforms. Just try to stay on his good side."

"Is that a threat?" Blake inquired, reaching over her back for her sword.

Spider-Man crouched down with one hand acting as a balance point before him, the two staring at each other until a flash of light appeared between the two. The hero and faunus were forced to shield their eyes, a man in a costume similar to Spider-Man's appearing before them with fists on his hips, shouting, "BAM!"

"Oh, God, not again." the hero groaned, slapping his hand over his face.

"Hey, Spidey! Glad to see you, the business guy, and the castaway survived! Who's your lady friend?" Deadpool chimed, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Her name is Blake..."

"And I'm wondering how much I can trust a bunch of guys in costumes." Blake added.

"Oh, hell no, you did not just go there with me girlfriend," Deadpool cried, turning on his heel and wagging his finger as he approached Blake, his voice mirroring that of a ghetto woman, "Spidery, girl, you best hold my weave and ear-rangs before I open a can of whoop-ass on this skinny white bitch!"

Blake drew her sword as Deadpool came too close, the blade folding down to a recurved bayonet atop it as she took aim with the pistol, demanding, "Stop right where you are! No one move until we sort out what you all are."

"Oh, sheit, this crazy crackah got a gun! Somebody, get it away from her before she goes and shoots up da schools!" Deadpool shrieked in his accent, dropping to his knees with his hands on his temples.

"Will you please shut the hell up! I've had just about enough of all of you," Tony demanded, standing and facing the crowd before him, "The name's Tony Stark. Blake, we are not here to cause you or your people any harm. We fell from the sky after getting sucked into whatever dimension this is and now we're just trying to figure out as much about you as you are us. So, please, give us a chance."

Blake stared at each of the men before her, aim still on Deadpool, before lowering it slightly, saying, "This forest hooks up with my school. It's Beacon Academy, it trains people like me to become hunters and huntresses of Grimm."

"What's Grimm?" Spider-Man asked, his tone now much more trusting and friendly.

"Monsters who seek to do nothing but wipe humanity of the face of Remnant. I'm actually in a team, my other three friends are looking for other people who fell in the forest. Well, actually, before our leader was taking us on a scavenger hunt the school had planned."

"Alright, thank you for the information, Blake. Now, I hope I speak for us all here, but you have our undivided trust and hope you have ours. I'm Tony Stark, I own a very profitable company in the world I'm from and spend my time fighting crime in a robotic suit."

"Wade Winston Wilson, at your service," Deadpool said in a regal tone, shaking Blake's hand as he dropped to a knee, "By God, for all the women I've seen with bow's atop their head, you are most definitely in my top five."

Blake ripped her hand free of Deadpool's grip, Spider-Man speaking up as he removed his mask, "I'm Peter Parker. I take photographs for a newspaper I work at, mostly of me fighting crime in my costume as Spider-Man. It's kind of a secret I'm trying to keep hidden though."

"My God, Peter Parker is Spider-Man!?"

"Shut up, Deadpool," Spider-Man replied, pulling his mask back over his face before continuing, "It's also kind of a big secret, I'd appreciate it if _we _kept it that way. Now, you said you had friends in this forest?"

At just that moment, a fiery blast erupted into the air, the blaze burning an intense golden orange that made all but Blake cover their eyes. The faunus merely turned and looked up at the cloud with squinted eyes, muttering, "Well, that's Yang."

* * *

The heiress wandered through her patch of the forest, head turning from side to side as she searched for anyone who had survived the fall with her hand around her sheathed myrtenaster's handle. Her grip only tightened as a shadow blurred over her, the sound of something swooping through the wind making her ears perk up. She kept going forward, the direction she thought she saw the shadow go and pushed through the trees, finding herself in a clearing no more than twenty yards in diameter. The heiress edged her way towards the center of the clearing, head on a swivel the whole way until she was in the epicenter of the opening, hear the flap once more as the shadow clouded over her. The heiress turned to find a bat-like figure blotting out the sun, the being speeding to the ground at the opposite end of the clearing from her before skidding to a stop just before her. The figure slowly stood, the jagged cape covering its body, and towered over the heiress, peering down at her through two white eyes in a cowl with two ears atop it. The heiress stood in fear and awe, jaw agape before she snapped out of it with a sneer, flipping back away from the bat in a back handspring and drawing her rapier as soon as she had landed, aiming it ahead as she shouted, "Who and what are you?!"

The figure only stood in silence for a while longer, the heiress growling before demanding once more, "Hello, I'm talking to you! Answer me or I have no choice but to use my weapon."

"Why does a girl like you have a sword? Where am I?" the man finally said in a deep voice that sent a chill up Weiss' spine.

"I'm...I'm," Weiss stammered, trying to shake her fear, "I'll answer the questions as soon as you answer mine. Who are you and what do you want? I won't ask again."

"This must be a new world," Batman muttered, looking around the forest that surrounded them before turning his attention back to Weiss, "Let me guess, you're a highly trained and skilled warrior tasked with protecting your fellow man?"

Weiss lowered her weapon, an eyebrow cocked with curiosity as she said, "You speak like you have experience in the art. And you seem to carry yourself fairly well. Tell me, do you come from wealth as well?"

"You could say that, though I'm not inclined to say much more."

"Weiss fully lowered her weapon," Deadpool said, reading from a book in a luxurious, silk and ivory chair in a den lit by a fireplace, a smoking pipe in one free hand while he sat in a coat, "Looking lovingly into Batman's eyes as she strolled over and embraced him. The two looked longingly into each other's eyes, slowly moving closer and closer until they were locked at the lips, as if trying to swallow the other. Batman parted his cape before him just enough for Weiss to take the hint, dropping to her knees, head level with his crotch, and..."

"Whoa, what the fuck, Deadpool?!"

"Ah, DAM, so good to see you. I hope you like my reading of your story. Not only will my voice bring in more of my fanboys, but my editing out the boring details and addition of some more erotic parts will bring in all those romance and shipping idiots that pollute this site! We'll be a hit at the cost of being a bunch of sellouts with no writing talent whatsoever!"

"You can't just do this in the middle of something, it ruins people's immersion and completely confuses them. You're ruining it!"

"Oh, you're just mad because I'm doing it better. People in the review section, let us know which you prefer, my eloquent and tastefully arousing take, or DAM's bland, beat 'em up style. Oh, and know twenty page rants that make absolutely no sense, stay in your basement with your tinfoil hat on tight and your waifu pillow tighter between your thighs."

"Oh, for God's sake, I knew adding you would ruin this. Please, just stop reading or shattering the fourth wall or whatever it is you're doing and let the story go on. Please, I'm begging you, a lot of people have been waiting on this update. Let's get back to the story."

DAM was suddenly interrupted by the vibrating of his phone in his pocket, letting off a muffled sound of the scream of Leeroy Jenkins. DAM dug through his pocket and looked at the caller, groaning as he answered, "Hey, Zivon, what's up?"

"Dude, what the actual fuck?!" his co-host bellowed.

"Yeah, I know, I'm already yelling at him for throwing this plotline WAY off."

"No, it's not that, he actually makes this readable."

"Yeah, well, fuck yourself."

"BUT, what I do have a problem with is how he is treating Weiss."

"SERIOUSLY?! Just because that's your favorite character, you're only zeroing in on that!?"

"Hey, I take her representations very seriously, and making her into a whore for Batdick is more than triggering. Here, let me talk to him."

"You can't be serious..."

"As full-blown AIDS."

"Ugh, fuck it. Here, he wants to talk to you, and may God have mercy on your soul."

Deadpool took the phone, instantly having to retract his head for a moment from the volume of Zivon's shouting, responding, "Hey, my eardrums may recover from that shout but that doesn't make it any less painful. Well, sorry, everyone else thinks it's hilarious... Well, be lucky that's all I got, too... Yeah, I had more... How does the phrase, 'butt stuff' strike you... Whoat, WHOA, take it easy, I swear everything would be missionary and some doggy style with light hair-pulling from there on... You're going to _what _me with an old man's chode... Good luck, it'll grow back... Well, you're a bigger one... How can you be this defensive of the heiress, she's kind of a bitch... Ugh, fine, you big baby. I'm sorry... Alright, bye," Deadpool conceded, clearing his throat, "That is one pissed off Jew. Now, where were we?"

Weiss's sword now hang idly at her side in her hand, her last bits of suspicion disappearing, "Ah, a member of the rich who fights for the good of all? It's an honor...uh..."

"Batman. That's as much as you need to know about me."

"Oh, the dark, mysterious type, I like it," Weiss cooed, curtsying and bowing as she continued, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, at your service."

"Well, now that I don't have a sword aimed at me, I can say it is, too. Now, Weiss, where exactly am I?"

"This is the Emerald Forest, it's adjacent to my academy, Beacon. It's teeming with Grimm, creatures we have to fight that want only to destroy humanity."

"Sounds interesting, but I mean what world is this?"

"Oh, well, you're on Remnant. This kingdom is Vale, very nice, if I do say so myself. So, where are you from?"

"Earth. Gotham City, not the nicest neighborhood when you consider all of the madness running around."

"Sounds lovely." Weiss responded sarcastically.

"And monsters aren't?"

"Bruce!"

The duo turned to find a man in red and blue, an S on his chest, floating down to them, a cape on his back. "Who's that?" Weiss inquired, dumbfounded by the man flying above them.

"Clark, we should really watch the names." Batman growled.

"Wait, your name is Bruce?"

"As far as you're concerned, it isn't," Batman snapped over his shoulder at the heiress, once more turning to lecture his comrade, "What happened to Doomsday? How did he get there?"

"He came through the portal, I just haven't seen him or anyone else. You're the only one along with her. Who is she?" Superman answered, landing softly on his feet before the bat.

Weiss began her routine of a curtsy before Batman cut her off, saying, "Weiss Schnee. She says we're in a world infested with monsters they call Grimm."

"Hm, sounds lovely."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Weiss shouted.

"Sorry, ma'am, just trying to figure out whatever we need from my friend. So, what are you doing with that sword?" Superman inquired.

"Oh, this? Well, never hurts to have it handy. This forest is actually a training ground for my academy. It's full of Grimm just for the challenge and, it just so happens, that my leader of my team of friends overheard a conversation amongst the professors that there is a scavenger hunt. So, here we are, listening to her crudely written directions and looking for whatever stupid prize it entitles."

"Well, it sounds like your leader's at least trying."

"A little too hard if you ask me."

"And I thought you had an icy temper, Bruce...I mean, Batman."

"Hey!" Weiss cried.

"So, about that team of yours..." Batman began, an intensely bright blast flying up into the air adjacent to where they stood.

"There's one, if you must know." Weiss quipped, waving her hand off behind her while looking at the astonished heroes before her.

* * *

Yang strolled on through the forest, weaving past the dense network of trees as she searched for the beings that had fallen to Remnant. She didn't have to search far, the voice of a man filling here ears from out of nowhere in a deep, soothing tone, "Is everyone alright?"

"ALRIGHT," she heard a deeper, raspy man scream, "We just fell from the stratosphere to where we are now, I'm pretty sure we aren't alright. Where the hell are we, Luthor?!"

"Settle down, Croc, I have big plans for this world of Remnant."

"What, have you been here before or somethin'?" a woman asked, her accent heavily imbued with that of a New Yorker.

"What did you think? My company just built this machine and I'd never used it before? No, you idiots, I've definitely been here before and arranged ourselves a little partnership with a fairly reputable dealer. A man by the name of Roman Torchwick and his company he calls the White Fang."

Yang, who had listened from afar, now began to edge closer to the sounds of the group as a man with an overjoyed, yet disturbing, voice cheered, "Well, take us to your people, Lexi, and fill us in on the details along the way."

Yang crept her way to a stout tree before a miniscule patch of treeless land in the forest, peering out from behind it and watching the group, a bald man in a green robotic suit pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing, "Joker, I think I speak for all of us, besides your deranged hussy, that you should shut up."

"Hey!" a woman in a red outfit with two differently colored pony tails cried out.

"We'd be meeting up with them before any of us could imagine falling out of the sky. Something went wrong with the machine and it sucked us in. We should be grateful we were lucky enough to be sucked into this world and not one with no oxygen."

"So, what's the plan, Luthor? I ain't got all the time to dawdle in this godforsaken planet." a short, well-dressed man with every visible feature being grotesque whined.

"_Puta madre_, will you _idiotas _listen to Luthor for three seconds?!" a hulking man demanded, his veins and tubs all across his mask glowing neon green.

"Thank you, Bane. My plan was actually quite simple. Mister Torchwick tells me of an element this world relies on called dust. They use it for everything. Bullets, weapons, fuel, accessories, you name it. It can even be used to imbue the user with certain powers. We take it back, make billions, perhaps trillions in the market with this supposedly rare item we discovered in some far, shut-off island no one will ever go looking for and distribute it to some of our colleagues to give ourselves an edge against the likes of the Justice League or others who stand in our way."

"Are you one of them?" a man whispered behind her, an orange and black mask with one eye peering through over her left shoulder.

Yang turned just as the clang of metal on wood filled her ear, a sword in his hand having imbedded it's blade in the tree, stopping just a few inches from Yang's neck, much to the chagrin of Deathstroke. In an instant, Deathstroke tumbled back through the air after the crack of metal, the the assassin flopping on his stomach and groaning. Yang stood with a huge grin on her face, cracking her knuckles as her bracelets deployed into gauntlets. Deathstroke barely managed to push himself up on weak arms, looking up through his crumpled mask, already beginning to push out the dents on its own, before collapsing face-down once more with a groan. The tree behind Yang suddenly exploded, a massive object slamming into her and sending her tumbling over the grass until she skidded to a stop on her hand and knee. The brawler found she had been hit by the hulking man known as Bane, the behemoth letting out a roar as his eyes and body seemed to glow green, the Venom pumping through his body. "You will pay for your eavesdropping, _bruja_!" Bane roared before barreling at Yang.

The huntress merely rose to her feet before rearing back and throwing her fist forward, slamming it into Bane's stomach and folding the luchador over her arm, an orange blast exiting her gauntlet rocketing Bane back the instant he was hit. Bane flew back over the stump he created and slammed into the Joker, bellowing in dazed pain as the Joker lie prone and pinned from the waist down under the gargantuan villain. "Will someone get this idiot off of me!" the clown cried.

"Hey, no one puts a hand on my puddin," Harley declared, turning to Yang, her fists raised, as she charged ahead, uttering, "Alley oop."

Harley sprung forward with cartwheel, twisting around and flying at Yang with a series of backhand springs. Just as Harley was within striking distance of Yang and in mid-flip, parallel with the ground, she shot her feet back into Yang's chest. The huntress, however, easily dodged the blow, sidestepping it and grabbing Harley by an ankle. Harley let out a surprised gasp before she was slung aside, her back wrapping around a tree before sliding to the ground. Yang's attention was turned to the thumping of the ground and a massive, horribly disfigured man charging at her, roaring like the beast he looked like. The man raised his clawed hand and swiped at Yang, the huntress going on the defensive and being forced to block the blows with her armored arms raised before her. Croc's nails slammed down over Yang's gauntlets over and over in a series of sparks. Suddenly, Yang's legs were swept from beneath her, Deathstroke kneeling in a near-split position with his staff following through from the swing. Working in tandum, Killer Croc's hand engulfed her face, slamming her into the ground so hard she was partially driven through the dirt. The freak threw Yang up before her, clubbing her in the gut with his fist, the brawler lying limp over his arm before dropping her to her knees. Yang wrapped her arms over her midsection, trying desperately to catch her breath before her head rocked to the side with a metallic ting, the Joker standing before her with an arm crossed over his body and a brass knuckle on each fist that both read 'HA'. The Joker took his time, crossing her from each side of her jaw with his brass knuckles, finally stopping and shaking his hands from the sting of hitting her. "Anyone else want a crack at her?"

No sooner had Joker stepped aside than did a chain shoot out, the penguin-headed end wrapping around Yang's neck and making the huntress instantly claw to pry it free. The deformed owner of the chain heaved on the cane it originated from, sending Yang hurling ahead as Harley stepped in her bath with her bat raised, exclaiming, "Pucker up," before nailing Yang directly in the face.

The brawler flopped back and rolled over her shoulders from the power of the swing, on her knees once more and spitting out a glob of blood, looking up to reveal a trail exiting the corner of her grinning mouth. Yang was once more knocked onto her hands and knees with a deafening crack, Deathstroke standing above her with his lance wrapping against his lower back. "I'll finish this." Luthor said, stepping forward to face the brawler.

Lex leveled his hands at the huntress, Yang holding her arms out to her sides, as if to embrace him, and shouted, "Go ahead, give me your best shot!"

"I intend to." Lex replied with a smile, unleashing a pair of green energy beams from his palms.

The beams struck Yang in the chest with explosive force, the huntress flying back from the blast before tumbling end-over-end. However, Yang rebounded to her feet, arms aimed back and letting off a blast that propelled her straight at Lex with a fist cocked back, her hair seemingly on fire and eyes a deep crimson. Caught off-guard, Lex couldn't react as Yang flew fist-first into his chest, skewering his armor and slamming against his ribs with a blast that sent him flying straight out the back of his war suit in a trail of metal parts. The group of villains watched in awe as Lex sailed back towards Bane, crashing to a stop beside the barely conscious luchador, his torn up suit collapsing forward. Deathstroke advanced to finish Yang off, sword drawn, but was cut off as she spun around to face him, fist flying for his head. The assassin ducked the blow, only for Yang to use the momentum to spin around and take him off his feet with a heel kick. Deathstroke spiraled into the air, upside-down as he came face to face with Yang, her fist ready by her head. She winked at him with a grin as she clubbed him in the face with an overhead shot, driving him several inches straight into the ground. Killer Croc charged at Yang once more, the huntress rearing her leg back and kicking Deathstroke in the ribs, catapulting him back-first into freak's stomach, doubling him over as the assassin bounced back from him. Acting quickly, Yang reeled Deathstroke in by his ankle, her fist wheeling overhead before nailing him with a wicked shot and denting his mask even further into his skull to the point his eye was no longer visible through its slot, once more driving him into the dirt. Harley charged at Yang with bat raised overhead, letting out a war cry before shrieking, "Take this, you bitch!"

Harley slammed the bat down onto Yang, only for it to deflect off her gauntlet. The instant the metal club kicked back, Yang threw her fist straight into Harley's stomach and sent the clown woman sailing into the tree she had once been wrapped around. Stunned from hitting bouncing her head off the trunk, Harley slowly teetered forward before Yang palmed her face, slamming the back of her head into the tree and driving a hole into the thick wood. Just as Harley slinked to the ground, eyes rolled in the back of her head, Yang was spun around to face the smiling, horrifying clown, Joker throwing his fist at her with an attempted sucker punch. Yang caught his fist before her face in an instant, her intense expression only growing more infuriated as she took him off his feet with a hook to the gut, then rocketed him into the air with an uppercut. As Joker fell back down, Yang was ready, fist flying directly into his nose and sending him flying straight into a kneeling Deathstroke, the two colliding chest-first with one another and falling in a heap. A gun cocked directly behind Yang's head, a man with half his face a hideous burn wound standing behind her with a coin on his cocked thumb, hissing, "Let's let fate decide what to do with you."

Two-Face flicked the coin high into the air, turning his attention to it and costing himself dearly. Yang spun around and knocked the gun aside, nearly shattering his radius and ulna in her vice like grip. Yang's fist flew up under Harvey's chin, rocking him back with a familiar orange blast of energy. Yang turned herself sideways to the disfigured villain, firing her gauntlet off in the opposite direction and rocketing her elbow straight into his midsection, doubling him over. Yang then spun once more at a blinding speed, nailing Two-Face in the side of the head with a high-speed roundhouse, sending the villain flopping several yards away. Before she could even plan her next move, Yang flung backwards by her hair, Killer Croc having flipped her back over herself by her hair. Yang quickly righted herself in mid-air and landed against a tree with her feet, springing straight back at Killer Croc. Yang slammed her fist into the giant freak's cheek, jarring several teeth and his own jaw loose as he was driven into the ground. The instant they did, a massive explosion erupted out from her gauntlet, the blast engulfing her and sending the villains flying in all directions like leaves in the wind. Yang knelt over the soot-coated Croc, her fist still pinning his head into the ground until she used him to push herself back up to her feet. Yang looked around at the damage she had done, a quick swipe of her wrist wiping the blood from her chin. Yang's heart sank as she heard the shrieks of her sister, sprinting off in the direction they came from as she screamed back, "RUBY!?"

* * *

Ruby dashed through the woods, wasting no time in searching for those who could be very badly injured from such a fall. Before she knew it, she had bolted straight into someone, knocking them both to their seat, Ruby shaking her head while the man protested, "Hey, watch where you're going, kid!"

Ruby opened her eyes and nearly shrieked at the sight of the man with a skull mask before her. "I'm...uh...sorry, mister. I didn't see you. So, what's with the get-up?" Ruby stammered, getting to her feet as the masked man did the same.

"Well, missy, I just got dropped from the damn sky. Now, I'm just trying to find my pals."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I was actually looking for you guys. How did you even get up there?"

"That is none of your concern, madam," a man said from behind her, fear once more creeping over her as she turned to see him raised by four metallic arms jutting from his back, "What concerns us is where we are and how we can leave this world."

"Wait, you're saying you just fell onto Remnant?"

"Precisely."

"Okay, sorry if I sound a bit rude, but that sounds kind of...well...stupid. How did you really end up here?"

"You are trying my patience, little girl. I am telling you the truth as we know it. A wormhole sucked us out of our world and dropped us into this one."

"Okay, did Yang put you up to this? How'd she know I had this planned?" Ruby asked.

One of the arms supporting the man in green and yellow suddenly reared back and struck at Ruby, revealing three metallic digits radiating out from the end of the robotic limb. The top two slammed down on either side of Ruby, the third compressing her sternum inwards and, in an instant, Ruby was hoisted into the air, limp and gasping for air. "I won't ask so politely this time, little girl. Tell me, where are we?!"

Octavius released Ruby, the huntress flopping to her hands and knees, sucking for air. The unsheathing of cold steel preceded a sword being aimed at the back of her neck by the man with the skull mask, demanding, "Listen to what he says, girly, or we might have an issue."

Without warning, Ruby shot up on her hands, mule kicking Taskmaster directly in the chin with unseen speed. The skull flew back, slamming into a tree and groaning before sliding to his seat. As if instinct kicked in, Ruby bounded back onto her feet and flipped back away from the swipe of a claw. As she sailed back, the huntress produced a small black and red rectangle that, as she landed, expanded and unfolded into a massive scythe, tip slammed into the earth and aiming ahead at Doc Oc. Otto's face was overcome with his dread, snapping out of it with a sneer as he shot a pair of arms at her. Ruby seemed to teleport ahead in a flash of rose petals, the shing of metal slicing metal filling the air as Ruby's scythe was now held diagonally behind her. The sound of electronic sparking and crackling filled the air, Otto retracting his robotic arms to find they had been sheered clean in half. His lack of attention cost him as Ruby fired her scythe behind her, rocketing towards the scientist and sailing in the gap between his standing tentacles, the blade catching them and cutting the digs at the end from the arms at the joint they connected at. Ruby used the momentum of her slide to end up back on her feet, scythe aimed in the opposite direction as Otto crashed onto his back, letting out an oomph as he lost the air in his chest. Ruby fired her scythe yet again, the recoil causing the blade to wheel around through the air and slam the blunt end of the scythe opposite the blade directly into his face, shattering his sunglasses and nearly his skull with them. Ruby brought her scythe back before her abdomen, looking down on the doctor's shattered face, the frames of his glasses barely holding up while blood streamed from his nose and mouth. "I'm...I'm sorry." she feebly whispered.

"Oh, you will be!" a deep, demonic voice called out, instantly being drowned out by the roar of an engine.

Ruby had little time to do more than turn, instantly having a metallic, purple object slam into her midsection, folding her in half over it. In that instant, a white force covering her became visible, shattering in an instant and shooting out like glass before dissipating, her scythe dropping at the spot she was rammed into. Her wind left her lungs as the shing of metal echoed through her whole body, a pair of jagged blades extending from the front of the glider and goring her, an inch of the blades sticking out her back. A cough splattered blood at the green feet of the man who did this, Ruby looking up and instantly filled with horror as she looked up into the evil, yellow eyes of a green ghoul, fangs poking out of his toothy maw of his mask making him all the more intimidating. Unable to control her fear, Ruby let out a shriek that mingled in with the drone of the engine and the demon's evil laughter. The glider abruptly stopped, slinging Ruby ahead as she rolled to a stop, trying desperately to get air in her blood-caked airway. "Say your prayers, little girl." the goblin said, holding up a pumpkin bomb.

The madman hurled the bomb at Ruby, the huntress lying helplessly in the fetal position facing away from the goblin, a blur of motion overtaking Ruby just as the bomb detonated. Ruby and her savior flew back from the force, Yang slamming back-first into a tree, trying her best to protect her wounded sister. Barely conscious and having her aura shattered by the last blow, Yang re-situated Ruby so that she cradled her in her arms, running a thumb through her hair. Tears filled Yang's eyes as she looked at her sleeping sister's own shut eyes, her breath labored and raspy. Yang attempted to situate her sister more comfortably, her heart sinking as she heard a crinkle, realizing it was only paper. Yang dug a hand into the gap between her sister and herself, producing the neatly folded map Ruby had written. The brawler tentatively opened it with one hand, shocked by what her sister had written:

_Tell friends about treasure hunt_

_-Secret thing the professors are planning_

_-I caught wind of it, want to spend week alone with them_

_Take them to Emerald Forest and spend day exploring the sites_

_-The Cliffs_

_-Ruins_

_-Caves with walls covered in dust crystals_

_Tell them it was only a good way to spend a Sunday off_

_-Hope they don't kill me_

_-Finally spend some quality time with my friends_

_Bond at night talking about our lives, dreams, and anything_

_-Be as open as possible_

_-Tell them how much they mean to me_

_-My greatest fear of..._

Yang could not make out the last line, blood smearing and covering the words to thickly. Yang felt a sudden, burning jolt in her neck, followed by something plunging into her veins, a deep, haunting voice hissing, "Don't be afraid, little girl, you have nothing to fear but Scarecrow himself!"

Yang looked at the man with a haggard burlap sack combined with a gas mask over his face, laughing maniacally as Yang's vision began to warp him into a shadowy figure, his eyes and mouth an ominous red void.

As the brawler hallucinated, the villains she had just beaten began to fill up around the sisters, glaring down at her with evil intent. "Hey, who the hell are you people, don't tell me you're with them!" Taskmaster cried out.

The group turned to find Taskmaster holding the battered Doctor Octopus, his arm slung over the skull's shoulders for balance. "Actually," Lex answered, being held up too by Deathstroke, "this blonde lady owes us a lot for destroying my property and beating my comrades. So, if you don't mind..."

"Oh, don't bother, Lex," Scarecrow said, his voice seeming to wail and moan, "Blondey has three times as much fear toxin as it takes to drive a man mad for a sleepless week. She won't be causing us any trouble anymore."

Yang looked on with terror, hyperventilating and clutching her sister ever tighter. The figures all around her appeared to be jet black and tree-like, arms dangling at their side and radiating down into long, sharp-tipped spikes at the fingers. Their faces ranged from hideous to horrifying, noises going straight out before bending down at a 90 degree angle, eyes a red void just like the mouths, their flapping lips revealing their teeth. Some had snaggled, jagged teeth, some had triangular and serrated, while other still were like rows and rows of hooked needles.

Taking notice to her whimpering, the larger group of villains dismissed the injured girl and her hallucinating sister, Penguin tapping the back of his hand on Lex's thigh to get his attention, "Oi, Lex. You think we can trust these blokes?"

"Funny," Green Goblin roared as he slowly descended from the heavens, "I was just about to say the same thing! It also just so happens there's a city not to far from here."

"Great, now we can hook up with my accomplice in this world and go through with our plan."

"What plan would that be?"

Lex let a smirk crack across his face, responding, "Did you have anything to do with the girl bleeding in our friend's arms?"

"Perhaps, would you like to join her?" Goblin growled, the blades on his glider extending with a frightening noise.

"Ah, another nutcase. I could use you. Tell me, does a man as powerful as yourself have enemies where he comes from"

"Plenty. A few of them ended up in this world just as we did. You mentioned a plan, you have my interest, now tell me before my interest turns to impatience."

"I like you already. I have a contact here in that city, Vale. He's going to hook us up with enough powered crystals they call dust to make us all richer and put down those who oppose us. What do you say?" Luthor inquired, extending his hand up to the Goblin.

Norman let out a chilling chuckle, returning the gesture with a quick shake, replying, "We would be honored to assist you in any way if it means we crush the wallcrawler, tin can, green giant, and big mouth."

"I'd be more than happy to supply your demand. Now, would you be kind enough to lead us there?"

The Goblin turned and coasted ahead of the group, the battered bad guys filing deeper into the forest behind him, all the while Yang watched, petrified with fear. Her breathing slowed, eyelids unbearably heavy and fluttering. Finally, exhausted and battered, the brawler shut her eyes, slipping into slumber as a group gathered around the tree, looking on the duo with worry.

**We're back, folks! I have to apologize, I'm sorry I did not get this out so much sooner! I've just been busy with friends, family, and the basic lethargy winter break gives ya. But oh, well, glad to be back! Hope you guys like this update as much as the last one and...screw it, do you have anything you want to say?**

**Hmmm...nah, I think I got my two cents and then some in earlier. Continue.**

**My God, it's a miracle! Anyway, my break ends this next Tuesday the 19****th****, so I'll try to get one, perhaps two more updates out before school starts up again. As I said in my holiday story, it really annoys me and a lot of other authors when people assume they've abandoned a story. I will be perfectly clear: I have A LOT of stories I have to finish up before I move on to other ones. This 5/5/5 system is my best chance of finishing a bunch of them. I am also, despite what I'd like to think, human. I get tired, I get bored, or I may not feel like writing from time to time. But, rest assured, I will not abandon this story and, if I do abandon a story, it will be deleted. This one has three more updates slated before I move onto GTA: Vale and then Death Battle after that.**

**Sorry for the lecture, just had to say it. Otherwise, thank you all so much guys, I hope 2016 is as productive and fruitful for me as you made 2015. It all means a lot, I love you all so much for giving me the happiness that is your approval and even praise of my stories and ideas. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Keep the support up and leave a little love here, on my other stuff, and with my friends, and don't forget to cite your DAM sources!**

**I won't even give you shit, I'm just hoping you have more me in future updates. Happy 2016, bitches!**


	6. Acquainted

The world briefly appeared through a murky, distorted lens, light appearing and vanishing without warning or reason. Sounds, too, faded and came through in wavering consciousness, able to hear the familiar voices, "We have to get back to Beacon, they can help them."

"What happened?!"

"Quickly, take them to the infirmary...she's losing blood, cauterize the wounds, now! Sorry, Ruby, this is going to burn." the man said, followed by a heat she barely recognized being pressed to her stomach in two spots before she was turned and roasted on the other.

"Is she..."

"Dammit, she's stopped...stay with us, damn you..."

"We've done all...her aura will have to do the rest of the work...days, weeks, who knows..."

"In the meantime, we might as well work together."

* * *

Noise was what terrified her most. The girl was too terrified to turn and face the things that made the horrible screeches that made her eardrums drill with pain, the smell of roasting flesh, and jingling of metal objects. The blonde huddled under her blankets, facing the wall and quaking with terror in the fetal position, hyperventilating with helpless tears streaming over her face. Finally, the brawler drew up the courage to turn and face her tormentors. All around her were heavily armored beowolves, the bones jutting out from all over their body immensely long, their exposed skulls ending in a sharp curve at the nostril, and eyes as red and evil as ever, thick smog radiating from their bodies. The beasts turned to Yang and snarled, the huntress scrambling to get up but only managed to get to her seat and put her back to the wall, wrapping her arms around her legs that bent tightly up against her chest before her. "NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Yang screamed, burying her face in between her knees.

Yang began to plead incoherently for the creatures of Grimm to leave her alone, the noises she made only a mixture of shrieks and terrified shouts of gibberish. Her eyes flew open at the sound of flesh being parted by steel, the brawler tentatively looking up over her knees to see the Grimm lying on the ground, dead and many decapitated while others had slashes over their chests and stomachs. Amid the corpses stood a feminine figure in a red, armor-like top with crimson gauntlets, a black miniskirt and black leather boots that went up to her mid thigh formed the bottom half of her attire, a massive red sword held out at her side. What struck Yang the most was the figure's face, it was covered by a bone-like mask with four eye holes and red marking dashing intricately over its surface. Yang could barely force herself to whisper, "Mom," before the sound of flesh being pierced rung out once more.

Yang's breath grew labored, her airway seeming to become clogged before a trail of blood streaming down her mouth and chin. The blade plunged into Yang's chest with up to the hilt, still in one of her mother's hands as the other brought a finger to where her lips hid behind the mask, hissing at her to be quiet. The white that faced Yang now vanished in a flap of wind, a black, leathery object engulfed her mother's head, retching it back to reveal her pale neck. The instant her neck was exposed, her throat came undone at the seems, unzipping itself with an invisible slice and and pouring out like a waterfall before her horrified daughter. The blood filled into a large vial held out before her, wrapped in the same dark, skin-like flap. Once the vial was nearly full to the brim, her mother's corpse was tossed to the side, revealing a more horrific being. A large bat, standing higher than any man squealed at a ear-shredding pitch and revealed its mouth that teemed with shark-like teeth, the canines especially large and pronounced. It spread its wings out, white spikes sticking out of where its fingers and toes should, the top half of its skull exposed with a pair of triangular spikes atop it and the bone plastered with red lines and symbols, and its eyes appearing to be filled with magma. Before Yang could scream, the vial was thrust into her mouth, dumping the copper-tasting contents down her gullet before one of the wings, like leather over her mouth, prevented her from spitting it out. It did not, however, stop her from trying.

* * *

Batman clasped his hand to Yang's mouth, grunting and holding the serum he had poured into her mouth with all his might. He could feel the liquid filling between her mouth and his palm, a bright blue fluid seeping down her chin. "Will somebody give me a hand?! I don't have much of this stuff left!"

Weiss and Blake rushed to the bat's side, each taking one of Yang's arms and holding them aside, albeit they felt as though they were forced to do so. Finally, losing her strength in the struggle, Yang let out a harsh gulp, the trio releasing Yang as she threw herself to her hands and knees. Her head dangled over the edge of the bed, the brawler heaving as Batman quipped, "Funny, I thought I don't remember it tasting that bad. Then again, it certainly isn't blue raspberrry."

Blake and Weiss both shot Batman hateful glares, unable to do so for long before noticing Yang's gags turned to a quiet yawn. The huntress-in-training sluggishly set herself back in her original sleeping position beneath the covers, snoring softly as the serum went to work. "The thing I gave her can make you pretty sick if it interacts with too much fear toxins, so I designed it to act like a fast-acting sedative in more severe cases."

"Fear...toxins?" Weiss stammered.

"Yes, that's what Scarecrow injected into her neck. By the looks of it and judging from her reaction, it was a lot. That's why she was panicking, it causes very vivid hallucinations of your worst fears."

"Will she be okay?" Blake inquired.

"That depends on what you mean. The gas' effects will be gone and she'll be free of hallucinations. However, she must have had a terrible vision. Who knows, she could be psychologically scarred for life or insane as a result."

"So, what can we do?"

"Wait and hope it didn't affect her too deeply. Most of all, if it's apparent it has done some damage, just talk to her about it and help her through it as best you can. You know her better than I do, so it'll be very helpful to say the least. How's your other friend?"

"My student," a man interjected, the trio turning to find a man in a green and black suit with white hair before them with a cane at his side, "is still in recovery. We've stopped the bleeding as best we could, now we're just monitoring for infection and hoping her aura can repair some of the damage."

"Professor Ozpin, we have to see her, now!" Weiss demanded.

Ozpin straightened his glasses and sighed, finally asking, "Are you sure you want to? It isn't a pretty sight, I can guarantee you that much."

The girls nodded, almost with regret, as Ozpin stood aside and gestured with his hand to a wall of plastic green fabric, "She's behind that curtain."

Weiss and Blake strided towards the curtain, walking through where the two halves were parted and lost all breath in their lungs with deafening gasps. Ruby lie in a pure white bed, everything below her neck covered by the thick blankets as tubes and IV's ran under her blanket, poking into her flesh and supplying her with life-saving fluids in a grotesque display. A large mask covered most of her face, save for her eyes, cheeks, and forehead, connecting to a tube that originated from a generator with a visible pump working oxygen into her lungs. Weiss quickly left, mouth over her hand as she tried to stifle her cries, reminding herself of how her family did not tolerate the poor princess act. Blake stood on in shock, watching as the machines worked at keeping Ruby alive, healing her, and keeping tally of her vital functions. Finally, Blake forced herself to take a step towards her leader before having a change of heart and turning on a dime, heading back towards the exit of the school's infirmary. Once outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh air, looking on at the sun beginning to set in the distance, lighting the sky with a beautiful array of orange, red, pink, yellow, and purple. Looking at her surroundings, Blake spotted Weiss sitting on a stone bench before a beautiful garden of numerous vivid flowers, face buried in her hands as she quietly sobbed and shook. The faunus approached and sat beside her heiress comrade, not able to get a word off before Weiss turned and wrapped her arms around Blake, instantly wetting her bare shoulder. Shocked by the sudden gesture, Blake was slow to reciprocate the embrace, Weiss quickly sitting back and wiping her face clean and collecting herself, apologizing, "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. It won't happen again."

"Weiss, it's okay, it was hard to see Ruby and Yang like that. They're doing everything we can. At the very least, we know Yang will be okay...I think."

"It doesn't matter, we have to go find the people who did this and put a stop to whatever it is they're planning. That's what they'd want and we just got some new faces for the job."

"Weiss, I respect your courage and willingness to hunt these people down, but I'm not too comfortable with facing a bunch of people who made Yang breakdown and put Ruby in critical condition."

"That's because they were on their own and got careless. With these people here with us we're guaranteed a victory."

"Weiss, how can you say that?! That could easily have been you or me..."

"I can handle myself in a fight!" Weiss snapped.

"Look, fighting is going to do us no good right now," Blake said, standing up and looking down at the heiress with clear anger in her expression and tone, "We have to keep a level head about all of this and wait for them to get better."

"What if they never do, Blake? It's a real possibility. You saw Yang...we both saw Ruby. We have to do this or we might just end up like them."

"Is that it? You're scared?! Weiss, I can tell you the truth when I say I'm scared to death about what happened to Yang and Ruby, and even more so knowing the could have or can be me. We can't just go after these people with no plan or team. We need them, Weiss, just give them time, please. Give us time."

Weiss took a deep breath, finally looking up at Blake with teary eyes, responding, "I will. Just make me this promise, Blake, no more trips to the hospital. No more."

* * *

From the infirmary, the wallcrawler looked on from inside a window at the scene. His attention was turned as door opened to the room he, the billionaire, and mercenary waited in, a bed holding the unconscious scientist, and a doctor entered with a clipboard in-hand, his short, cropped hair, eyes, and skin a light shade of brown. Just as the doctor began to rifle through the papers, Deadpool threw himself to his knees and grovelled at the doctor's feet, "Oh, give it to me straight doc, will I ever walk again?!"

"Sir, please, get off of me." the doctor demanded, Spider-Man grabbing Deadpool by the ear and yanking him to his feet.

"AH, prick!"

"So, what's the status on our friend?" Tony asked, looking on from a padded wooden chair across the room.

"Well, his aura is nonexistent right now, he must have taken a hell of a beating to be like this."

"What's an aura?" Spider-Man inquired.

"Good one." the doctor laughed.

"Doc, I'm gonna level with you. This is gonna sound go-nutty, bat shit crazy but bear with me. We came from another universe entirely, in a galaxy far, far away! Where we're gonna need a bigger boat to say 'ello to my lil frien'! Come on, people, I'm running out of movie references here!"

The doctor quickly pulled Spider-Man aside, positiong his clipboard to the side of his mouth away from the webslinger as he whispered, "I also need to talk to you about that friend of yours. For lack of a better term..."

Deadpool looked directly at a wall, not paying any attention whatsoever to the men behind him as he ranted, "Seriously, doctors in RWBY?! Oh, and don't even get me started on his fucked concept of aura!"

"...stark raving mad."

"He's always like that but, for once, he isn't crazy...well, not entirely. We are from another place entirely, we got sucked in a wormhole our friend there created."

The doctor took a step back and gave Spider-Man a bewildered stare before shaking his head and looking down at his clipboard, "Alright, sure, I'll play along. Well, whatever it was, it looks like he worked up so much energy that he put himself into a coma. His testosterone, adrenaline, and lactic acid levels are off the charts, it's a wonder how he's even alive."

"Give it to me straight, doc," Deadpool cried as he grabbed at the waist of the doctor's lab coat, "will my love survive this irreversible coma!?"

"Ugh, I've just about had enough of today. We're trying everything we can to help your friend, sir. But, who knows, he may be in this coma for weeks, maybe months or years. There's a very distinct possibility he may never come out of this coma after the strain put on his body."

"Thank you, doctor..." Tony drew on.

"I'd actually prefer if you don't know my name."

"Well, thanks anyway, take care," Tony said, waiting for the doctor to leave the room as he uttered, "Douche."

"So, now what's the plan, Spidey? You've got a knack for coming up with some great ideas so far."

"Oh, blow it out your..."

"Boys, boys, boys! Calm down, I'm not dealing with one more moment of this crap from either of you so can it!" the billionaire blew up.

After several moments of silence, he spoke up once more. "Thank you. Now, if you ask me, I say we're going to have to work with the people we met, including the guy with his underwear outside his pants and the nutty guy in the bat get-up. Is that good enough?"

"Good enough for this dying plot." Deadpool muttered.

"What was that?!"

"Great idea," Deadpool shouted with his thumb raised, turning and saying to himself, "Maybe you should write this story."

* * *

The motley crew of evil filed towards a docking area at the edge of the kingdom, weaving through the maze of shipping crates and finding an clearing empty of everything but people in identical black and white hooded uniforms, bloody claw marks on their backs with the face of a crimson wolf over that, and white, bone-like masks adorning their faces. The chatter they all exchanged went deafeningly silent in an instant, the large group staring at the myriad of freaks and men in masks before them. Almost as soon as they arrived, the White Fang members began to draw their swords, chains, axes, and a wide variety of other melee weapons. "Not this again. Does everyone in this world carry a weapon?" Luthor growled.

Just as the squad of villains readied for another battle, a man called out with a mixture of contempt and delight, "Hey, hey, hey, boys and girls, put those weapons away! We have company I've been expecting for some time. Though, I don't remember this many being part of the deal, Luthor. What, are you going to double-cross me?"

A man in a white coat, bowling hat with his red hair spilling out from underneath, and cigar grit in his teeth stepped in front of the line of terrorists, twirling a can at his side. "Save it, Roman, the machine malfunctioned and sucked us all in," Luthor replied, waving his hand the three men unmentioned in their last meeting, "These three came from another world entirely, a being in theirs smashed a hole in reality itself."

"My, what a strange place to live where there's nothing but constant danger and unbelievably powerful beings. Well, welcome to another world exactly like that, but through in a bunch of shadow creatures who wish to destroy us."

"Ah, the Grimm you spoke so fondly of, I presume? Funny enough, I have just the man to help initiate phase one of our plans." Luthor said, waving a man in a burlap gas mask forward.

Scarecrow stepped up to the bald man's side, Roman rearing back in shock and shielding his eyes, crying out, "Goodness, at least give me a warning before that level of ugly shows itself!"

Scarecrow growled at Roman, Luthor putting his arm against his chest to hold him back as he continued, "I wouldn't mock our ace in the hole, Roman. I'd love to explain more but you never know who's listening. Care to invite us in?"

"Oh, what, this old place," Roman said, turning to the warehouse they used as a base of operations, "Oh, it's hardly a home, just waltz right in if you don't mind becoming Swiss cheese. Otherwise, knock first."

Roman turned and headed back through the sea of his underlings, parting in his wake as the villains of two different universes followed suit. "Well, you know our arrangements well enough," Roman said, waving around at the warehouse that was empty of everything but a stage, "Oh, I hope you don't mind standing, it must have been quite a journey from..."

"The Emerald Forest," Deathstroke snapped, "and if I were you, I'd hold that pretentious, snobby tone to yourself before I lose my patience."

Roman reared back in a hearty laugh, looking at Luthor and saying, "This guy's a comedian, right?! Where ever do you find them? Oh, and I adore the little man who looks just like me! What do you want to be when you grow up, little guy? Taller?"

"Piss off, you red-headed wank stain." Penguin spat.

"Well, if you think he's funny..." Joker began.

"Not now, Joker, we have important business to discuss with Roman." Luthor interrupted.

"Hey, you leave Mister J alone, you bald jerk! Let him say his piece." Harley snapped.

"We don't have time for being a bunch of damn children! Let's figure out why we're all here." Two-Face interjected.

Soon, everyone amongst the group of villains was arguing, Luthor looking on with disgust as Roman shook his head, hand plastered to his face. "Enough!" a woman shouted, catching everyone by surprise.

The room looked beyond Roman in unison, finding a trio of silhouettes approaching them, the one in the middle's eyes a fierce, glowing gold that shone bright in the dark. Eventually, the group stepped into the light, revealing a brown-skinned girl with green hair, red eyes, and an outfit that was little more than a training bra and brown chaps with white pants beneath. Opposite her stood a man in black and gray attire, matching his silver hair and brooding attitude. Between them stood the fire-eyed woman, her flowing hair black and adorned in a long-sleeved red dress that ran down to her mid thigh, bright orange symbols and patterns running up the sides of her arms, across her back, and over her chest. "Thank you for your attendance and listening skills. Now, which one of you is the one who brought all these men here?"

"I'm not responsible for all of them but I am in charge of them. Lex Luthor. What's your name, beautiful?" Lex replied, extending his hand to her

The woman let out a giggle before gently placing her hand in his grasp, the back of it facing towards him as she said, "Cinder Fall, it's a pleasure."

"No," Luthor replied, kissing her hand, "the pleasure's all mine."

"Oh, brother..." Roman and Mercury griped.

"So, Roman, how much of our plan have you discussed?" Cinder asked, turning to her accomplice.

"He hasn't told me much a lovely lady in charge like yourself couldn't."

"My, you've found a charmer, Roman."

"I was actually going to talk to him. You know, about the big plan, mind if I carry on?" Roman asked.

"Oh, come on, Torchwick, this lady's clearly bold and intelligent enough to be the brains of this operation, let her get her say."

Roman cursed under his breath as Cinder cheerfully answered, "If only I had help as charming and willing as you I'd be done already. Oh, before I go on, these are two of my pupils, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Our other one is finishing up a few loose ends as we speak."

Luthor nodded to a smiling Emerald while he and a cross-armed Mercury stared each other down, Mercury eventually turning and sneering to himself while Luthor looked on with a smug grin. "Did you bring the one? Scarecrow?"

"That would be me, Miss Cinder." Scarecrow replied with a sinister hiss.

"Good. You're even more terrifying than what Roman said Lex described you like. I like those kind of surprises."

"Life is full of surprises, the best ones are those that strike you with fear to your very core."

"Oh, and dark, too. Do you have this toxin I've heard so much about?"

"My fear toxins? Does everything not die?"

"That's a yes, then. Good. How much?"

"Enough to poison the veins of a city: it's water supply."

"You just make this too easy."

"So, what does all this have to do with Grimm and our ultimate goals?" the Green Goblin asked.

"Two horrific men in costumes? This is just getting easier every time I stop talking. Consider what I'm about to offer you a trade-off."

"Hey, now, missy! I've only been with this yay-hoos for a couple hours and, the way that bald one's been talkin', you owe us!" Taskmaster pointed out.

"Well, actually, we owe you nothing. The fact you're even here right now and not being dumped into the ocean is because of the incompetence of my inferior and my own kindness. Don't ever take that for granted." Cinder snapped, glaring through her seemingly burning eyes.

"Whatever you say, ma'am." Taskmaster jibed.

"Now, here's how we'll help each other out. You supply us with all of the fear toxins we need and that fear will draw in the Grimm. This city will fall and the rest of the kingdoms will fall in line. With nothing left to stop us, we take these kingdoms as our own and move to Luthor's phase. We supply you with enough dust to bring down a continent and take your world by storm."

"Are you mad, woman?! I can't give you all of it! I need it to fight the bat!" Scarecrow rasped.

"Scarecrow, get it together, the Batman is not here nor is Superman. Stop being so foolish and give her what she wants." Lex snapped.

"No, I need it! We could be fighting more like the girl with fire in her hair!"

"I can assure you we will do our best to make sure no one harms you or presents such an issue that makes you regret giving us your toxins. Besides, you have some now don't you?" Cinder comforted, looking on at the syringes taped to his fingers on one hand, full to the brim and dripping with the toxins, before turning her view to the Marvel villains, "I assume you three aren't associated with this group at any time other than this circumstance?"

"How did you know?" Octavius asked, breathless with shock and still reeling from the loss of his tentacles' ends.

"A lucky guess," Cinder smirked, "We'll take your world next and we'll hold all three in the palm of our hands. Once we have the manpower and weapons for the job, we'll take Remnant by storm once more and find the three remaining maidens. I'll take their powers and nothing in this universe, or any other will stop me."

"What are the maidens?" Luthor asked, enthralled by the woman's speaking abilities.

"You know, you're really cute when you're oblivious. The four maidens hold the elemental, raw power of spring, summer, winter, and fall. I've already taken the latter's powers, the three remaining are well-hidden from the world, but it'll be hard to hide forever when there's nothing left to save you, nowhere left to run and hide, and no one left to protect you. So, Lex, do we have a deal?" Cinder explained, extending her hand out to Luthor once more, this time for a proper handshake.

"How can I refuse such an amazing offer from a lady who clearly has her plans well-prepared? I know I speak for all of us when I say you have our unabridged faith and loyalty to your cause, as long as you show the same level of respect to ours." Luthor responded, returning Cinder's gesture with a firm grip and quick shake.

"Good," Cinder said in a hushed tone, "Now, let's see about those fear toxins."

* * *

Superman scanned the Emerald Forest, flying high and searching desperately for signs of anything. Finally, the sound of wind washing over him was overtaken by the communicator in his ear, "Superman, can you hear me?"

"Bruce, I mean, Batman, how's the situation down at the hospital?"

"It's getting better. I gave the blonde one of my serums to fight fear toxins. Only problem was I had to use a whole vial. We're going to have to figure out how to make more if Scarecrow is running amok in Vale."

"And the other girl?"

"She's stable but critical. It's a wonder how she wasn't chopped in two by the force of whatever hit her. All we can do is wait and rely on the medical practices of these people. Oddly enough, they seem well-versed and knowledgeable of magic, talking about something called dust, aura, and semblance as magical abilities."

"Just what I need, a world of magic."

"Exactly. What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Doomsday, he has to be on this planet."

"Are you sure? It's possible he got spat out in another one?"

"Bruce, you and I came through that same wormhole and ended up here, I know he's here."

"We can worry about Doomsday later, Superman. Right now, our top priority is allying ourselves with all these people we've met and work together to find Luthor and whoever else he's working with now in this world."

Superman sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle in arguing with the bat, "We already made one mistake in going to that event at the prison, Bruce. I regret not stopping Doomsday and freezing like a scared fawn. Please, Bruce, don't make me do three things I'll regret in one day."

"Your call. But I strongly urge you make up your mind fast, I'm about to meet with the snow girl and the one with the bow. What were there names?"

"Weiss and Blake, respectively, Bruce."

"Thank you. I'll see you in a little bit." Batman said, the line going silent once more.

Superman let out a low growl in his throat, whispering, "God damn you, Bruce," before turning himself around and heading back for the emerald academy in the distance.

Just below where he had flown his farthest, a crater continued to smoke, it's lifeless, mangled meteor a massive gray being with bone jutting out all over its body, eyes lifeless. Suddenly, the eyes regained their red glow of hatred, the beast sitting up and standing in the crater it had smashed into the ground. The being turned to a ferocious roar, finding a bear-like creature with massive bone spike rising up from its back and shoulders towering at the edge of the small crater over Doomsday. The ursa swung down at Doomsday with tremendous force, the being catching the paw as big as he was with his outstretched hands, skidding back a few inches but maintaining a grip on the massive appendage. Doomsday heaved back on the ursa's limb, pulling it in and bringing a fist back in the same instant, slamming it forward and digging right through the ursa's chest, spike-coated fist sticking out its back. Unsatisfied, Doomsday freed his arm and wrapped his massive fingers around the top and bottom edges of the wound he created in the still-living Grimm. Straining himself just for a moment, the destroyer parted his arms and ripped the ursa in two, holding the halves out at his sides as he let out an earthshaking roar of blind fury. Abruptly dropping the dissolving halves of the corpse, Doomsday noticed the emerald lights poking through the treeline in the distance. Without another sound or action, the beast walked towards the light source, acting on instinct. His instincts had only one goal: destruction of everything in his sight.

**Hey, guys, DAM here! I just wanted to thank everyone once again for all the support you're giving me on this story and my other ones, I love you all!**

**Now, as we all know, Monty Oum passed away a year ago...yesterday (damn you, college!). I'm mostly making this endnote to say that this is my last tribute to Monty and his great work. I'll still be doing my RWBY stories and all of my other ones, but I just have to say this. Monty was a huge inspiration to me, no getting around it, he's the reason my Death Battle fights stopped sucking after Thanos versus Darkseid since I started emulating him (and there were only a handful of episodes, about five or six, before that that I'd say I did a quality job on in terms of length, content, and creativity). However, that being said, I think I've done enough patronizing of Monty for the past year and I have one goal now. I want to be known as me, DeadAliveManiac, and my work and creativity and fighting styles. I don't just want to emulate Monty or copy him or be his shadow, I want to be original and fresh just like he was. So, from now on, I won't be mentioning him anymore, not because I hate him or anything, it's just I want to create my own image.**

**Again, sorry for all these ranting notes at the end of stories, I'll try to cut back on that as well as fix my issue of paragraph length (I blame Deadliest Warrior for that). I hope this update was worth the wait guys and, if it wasn't or wasn't, feel free to let me know, all opinions, especially constructive feedback, are more than welcome. Otherwise, thank you all again, and I'll see you all again soon for two more Vale between World updates before we move on to GTA: Vale once more. As always, leave a little lover here, on my other stuff, and with my friends, and don't forget to cite your DAM sources.**

**Wait...hold on a second. This isn't right. Really...no Deadpool...huh? What's he pulling? Nothing!? This is weird. Not sure how to wrap this up. Kind of miss the bantering right now. Well... ah, screw it, I'll just go now.**


	7. Crossing Over

The cloven, demonic feet crashed down onto the earth below, shattering the pavement and sending boulder-sized debris, cars, and nearby civilians flying in all directions. The demon spoke out, raising his fists high and staring up at the heavens that turned crimson, "The Earth is mine!"

The being had a quadruplet of glowing, crimson eyes, two stacked atop one another on each side of his face. Massive, deer-like antlers jutted from his the long, flowing white hair atop his head. Panic coursed through the veins of the city like adrenaline, vehicles and people screeching and tearing off in all directions from the demon's epicenter. "Insignificant ants beneath me, of no value or mind of mine. Only a few out of you billion are worth my time. They can sting me."

Trigon let out a grunt and swatted his neck, bringing it back around to reveal red and yellow birdarang dwarfed in his palm like a pebble. "And here they are." the demon growled.

"Had enough already, Trigon?!" the boy wonder shouted from the shattered streets below.

Trigon faced his foes, the Teen Titans minus one, stood at the precipice of the damage his landing caused. "Your efforts at harming are all in vain, Titans. Your only hope of harming me isn't with you. Where is she? Cowering in a room where she thinks I can't touch her?"

"This isn't about her anymore, Trigon. This is about taking you down once and for all." Robin sneered, his mask narrowing as his eyes stared up in anger.

"It matters not how much any of you try to do anything. The only thing stopping me is her, and you've locked her in a room that robs her of the abilities that belong to me."

"Keep talking, goatman, she's safe from you with all those incantations and prayers on the walls."

Trigon let out a sudden, deep chuckle, replying, "You are right. It will keep me out as it harms me. But where do you think the source of all her power is?"

"Save it, Trigon, we're not falling for your tricks." Cyborg declared.

"Pitifully humorous, you can stop my physical contact with her, but not the mental or psychic bonds she and I have. Why do you think she's not here right now? She is in pain and agony. See for yourself." Trigon rebutted, raising a cupped hand as a clear sphere manifested above his palm.

An image slowly came to view in the orb. It was of a barely lit room, what was visible was familiar to them all. The walls were covered in the incantations they saw helpful, a blue cloth laying out on the floor. Suddenly, the fabric flipped over, drawing the air from the Titan's lungs as they watched in horror. It was Raven, white as a sheet and pouring with sweat. Her body twitched, fingers randomly curling and uncurling, and doubled over onto her side in the fetal position, quietly weeping as she pleaded in a hoarse voice, "Guys...please...let me out! It...hurts!"

Robin's arms went limp at his sides and eyes wide as dinner plates. "Oh my, God..."

"Whatever hinders me also does her, children. You worried so much about me that you neglected your dearest friend. Tell me, whose the real monster, Titans?"

"Shut your mouth!" Beast Boy screamed, turning into a pterodactyl and soaring up at the demon in an instant, a whirlwind engulfing the Titans in his midst.

As Beast Boy flew into the demon, he arched his body and aimed his feet skyward, hoping to claw a few of Trigon's eyes out. However, Trigon merely batted him with the back of his hands, sending him flying lifelessly through the window of a building in his crash path. With a massive, toothy, evil grin, Trigon beckoned, "Who's next?"

* * *

New York City bustled and buzzed as it would on any day, horns honking, people chatting, and the echo of the city was deafening on its own. However, a massive light eclipsed the city in an instant, causing cars to shriek to a stop, people to shield their eyes, and all movement ceased. The light had vanished as abruptly as it appeared, save for an orb of the same blinding ray that slowly descended from the heavens. The citizens watched in awe at the heavenly orb, slowly dissipating to reveal the dreaded man in green cloth and gray steel. "Citizens of New York," Doom cried out, his voice the familiar echo of metal they'd heard before, "I am here to liberate us all from the tyranny of this world's leaders and its universe's gods. I am here to usher in the age of Trigon!"

Wise to his ways, many began to file away, taking their children and loved ones by the arm to lead them away from the mad man. Life would go back to normal once again, with a slight interruption in its flow. Doom glared at the imbeciles sighing to himself, "They truly do not know what is best for them."

Doom spread his arms out at his sides, assuming a crucifixion pose as the sun began to eclipse. The skies grew crimson and people now basted in purple shadows. A burst of intense red light blinded the people once more, those who had stayed to look in fearful awe of doom and not ran away screaming, that is. Behind Doctor Doom was a monolith of a red and white hue, flashing with light as if it were a thunderstorm. The mysterious rectangle soon showed its purpose as a conduit as dozens of fire demons began to neatly file out of it, only their fiery tales contracting and lengthening as they hovered out. Soon, the lava and coal beings formed up a veritable legion behind the now cross-armed ruler, the Mark of Scath burning on his forehead.

Panic exploded throughout the populace, people sprinting to get away, knocking people into each other, trampling, hitting, and breaking. Doom shut his eyes, lowered his head and shook it, muttering, "Pitiful. A few centuries of direct rule by a fully manifested god should be enough to discipline these savages of the world."

"Hey, Doom!" a deep, gravelly voice called out.

Doom looked over his shoulder to see a group in matching blue uniforms, save for the orange one of rock, who continued, "Nice new toys you've got there. Where'd ya get 'em? A local bum fire?"

Doom spun around at once, fists clenched and arms trembling out from his sides, barking, "You unremarkable imbeciles! It's to be expected you will always show up in your misguided attempts to stop me! But your ignorance knows no bounds! How can such simple-minded individuals think they are equal to me, Victor von Doom!?"

Thing leaned over and cupped his hand to his mouth, whispering to Mister Fantastic, "I think I pissed him off."

"What's the deal now, Doom, upgrade your Doombots and taking them out for a test?" the leader inquired.

"Oh, if only you knew, Richards, and if only it were so simple for you to digest. This mark and these soldiers signify not only my allegiance with Trigon the Great, but the beginning of a new era in humanity. One where we are equals and pledge our loyalty, minds, bodies, and souls to one being." Doom declared, pointing to his forehead and gesturing to the army behind him with his free arm.

"A new piece of the occult you discovered, Victor? What'd this demon promise you? Power? Omniscience?" Mister Fantastic prodded.

"This universe."

"Your dreams are never small, Victor, I'll give you that."

"Enough," Doom demanded, aiming his hands down at the Fantastic Four, "behold the power bestowed upon me by Trigon!"

A few awkward moments passed, the group looking at each other in confusion before turning their attention to Doom and his legion. Suddenly, Reed screamed out, the group looking to see his limbs, torso, and neck suddenly sprung out, lengthened, and coiled up like noodles in the wind. He collapsed as soon as he was little more than a wavy, stretched-out mess. A ring of fire surrounded the leader, a cage of flame sprouting up and imprisoning him. His teammates looked on in shock, Doom calling out, "I have to say, Richards, it's quite a surprise to me how unstable those bonds that keep you rigid and plastic are. If one goes, they all go like a line of dominoes."

"Johnny, save him!" Susan cried.

Her comrade nodded, bursting into flames himself before setting his hands on the fiery bars that trapped Reed. His eyes widened with surprise, Susan demanding, "What's the matter?!"

"There's something off about this fire. I can't do anything to it, it's supernatural or something."

"Yagh! Get off me!" Thing cried out, being swiftly lifted up and away from his group.

Thing had a pair of demons constricting his arms, struggling to break free before more and more began to pile onto him. Only his face remained visible, screaming out as he was engulfed in a molten ball of rock. Suddenly, the orb collapsed inward, the super-tight sphere shrinking as demon after demon exited it. Once the last had reappeared, an orange liquid plummeted to the earth. What remained of Ben splattered on the pavement like a puddle of orange juice, his eyes flat and shapeless like eggs in a frying pan. "Every rock melts. You just have to find the right specific heat. Judging by how many of these demons it took to do the job, I'd say he'd melted around 55,000 degrees Celsius. Impressive, for a man who has the intelligence, and now the body, of a puddle." Doom stated with a hearty laugh.

Johnny roared in anger, flying up to the sky with balls of flame engulfing his hands and forearms. He reared back and through his hands forward, unleashing a massive stream of fire onto the army the eclipsed them. Keeping up his blast to ensure their demise, the Human Torch was shocked to see that not only were there signs of life in the fire, but that the fire demons were growing larger, engorging themselves on their flames. Finally snapping out of his trance, Human Torch ceased his blast to find that the demons had more than doubled, possibly tripled in size. Like a mouse in a corner before a cat, he was helpless as a group of the demons rushed after him, wrapping him from neck to toe several times over in their tentacles. The demons holding him gained a red glow as his own fiery composition began to fade until he was back in his human form, screaming in throat-shredding agony the entire time. His exposed flesh began to bubble and slide off of him like water, revealing the muscles of his face. His muscles sizzled and began to dissipate, his eyes rolling out of his sockets. Finally, he let out one last cry as he was soon reduced to a skeleton with a gaping jaw to reflect its cries. The demons released the remains, plummeting to the ground and shattering into innumerable pieces.

Susan looked at her brother's remains with terror, then back up at the army looming above her. She could barely hear her husband in a heap behind her pleading, too fixated on the opposition before her, "Susan, run!"

She could do no such thing as Doom instantly appeared before her, arms crossed and looking down at her with contempt. She fell to her knees, tears strolling down her face with her hands raised before her, a call for mercy. Without a word, Doom brought a fist back and threw it at Susan, all she could do was close her eyes and wait for the blow. Instead, her ears were met with the sound of something else being hit, the heroine slowly opening her eyes to find a thin, blue wave of light having stopped Doom's fist merely a foot from her head. "Why must you always oppose me, Susan?" Doom asked, almost sounding hurt.

"Victor, you leave her out of this, goddamn you! This is between you and me!" Reed demanded.

"It will be just you and I, soon enough." Victor replied.

Doom continued his assault as he clubbed his fists together and began to bash away at Susan's shield, each blow cracking the barrier more until there was a web-like shatter in it. One last blow decimated her defenses, Invisible Woman disappearing just before rising to her feet with a fist lowered for an upper cut. Doom swatted the unseen woman across the face with the back of his hand, instantly making her visible as she fell to her hands. Doom placed his boot on her hand as it began to light up with a blue aura, bones cracking and splintering as Susan gritted her teeth in pain and let out a whimper, a line of blood escaping her cut mouth. She looked up at Doom with gnashed, crimson-streaked teeth as he spoke, "It pains me so much to hurt someone so dear to me. My pain will end when you do. Goodbye, Susan."

Doom pointed a finger down at Susan, her very being wavering between visibility and invisibility as he aimed his other palm towards the sky. A beam of light pierced the darkness and encircled Susan. She let out a shriek as she slowly began to fade into nothingness, her costume collapsing as a heap of empty clothing in her absence.

Reed's anger subsided into woe upon seeing his wife wiped from existence. Tears welled up in his eyes as Victor continued to look down at where Susan's last place on earth was, matter-of-factly stating, "The bonds of her powers are similar to yours, Reed, almost identical when I first saw it. So touching and poetic how a couple could be so alike in that realm. But, her power is like porphyria before the sun. A slight imbalance of how she reacts to light waves and, instead of purposely removing herself from the visible spectrum, she is now vanished from the physical spectrum. I can't say for certainty whether she is dead or not. What I can say is that it is just you and me, old friend."

"Go to Hell, Victor."

"I've been, it's a lovely place, but now you're living it, Reed. Which is why I'll keep you alive to see my subjugation of the universe for Trigon from start to finish. You will be at my side for the greatest success any man in history has ever achieved. Then, when every corner of this universe bows to the name of Trigon, when all bow to Trigon and Doom, and when you are the only one who opposes as and are the enemy of all, I will relieve you of your life." Doom plotted, approaching his paralyzed foe and kneeling beside his fiery cage.

"If you think for a second I'm just going to let you win, Victor, you're sadly mistaken."

"That is where you are making a rarely incorrect conclusion, Mister Fantastic. You can't stop what has been put in place and ordained by destiny."

"So, now what, you're a demon's little helper? Never thought I'd see the day where you're the servant."

"Doctor Doom is nobody's servant," Doom bellowed, calming himself as he rose up before Reed, "But I've proven myself quite the mercenary."

* * *

"So, what's the plan, Robin?" Cyborg asked as the Titans and Trigon continued their stare down, his hand forming a sonic cannon.

"Hit him with everything we've got." Robin said, producing a trio of birdarangs between his fingers.

"I was hoping you would say that." Starfire said with a smirk, her eyes and fists being engulfed in a green energy.

"Let me guess, on the count of three you'll let me have it?" Trigon taunted.

"You're damn straight we are. Titans, go!" Robin shouted, hurling is projectiles.

Trigon merely brought his hand down and blocked the explosive devices with his palm. Lowering his hand with a laugh, a blue stream of energy struck him in the chest, getting a grunt out of the great demon and making him lose a step. A flurry of star bolts riddled up and down Trigon's abdomen, further angering him until a pair of green waves struck his upper most eyes. The demon grasped his smoking face and fell to his knees, roaring in pain under a growing lightning storm. Starfire soared up into the air with Robin and Cyborg in each hand, hurling the robotic one first. Cyborg flew straight into Trigon's scalp, taking an antler in one hand with his cannon cocked back. Just as Trigon began to rise to a foot, Cyborg slid down his face, maintaining his grip, and unleashed an uppercut right between his eyes with a blast of his cannon accompanying it. Trigon danced back with his face in his clutches, roaring and bellowing in pain. The robotic teen held on for dear life, flailing around and whipping about like a ragdoll.

Starfire spun herself around before hurling Robin at the demon, the boy wonder pressing two birdarangs together and forming a lengthy sword from them. Just as Trigon exposed his face, Robin brought his sword under his arm and thrust it forward, skewering his upper right eye. Now resonating his fury at vocal-cord-shredding levels, Trigon wrapped his fingers around Robin as if he were a doll. Robin wriggled for freedom, only be brought back over Trigon's shoulder and hurled straight into Starfire, colliding with her back-first with her stomach as they plummeted to earth in a contorted X.

Cyborg, still miraculously holding on, sought a speedy exit. He hopped down onto the sword in Trigon's now useless eye and sprung away from Trigon as he called out, "Hey, Trigon, bombs away!"

Just then, a massive weight fell directly Trigon, drooping him to his knees with a grunt. A humungous green whale now lay across his shoulders, a dopey look in its eyes and seeming to smile. Shock immediately radiated through the massive mammal as Trigon rose to his feet with a smile, wrapping his arms over the whale's head and tail as he plucked the sword from his eye, revealing it to be unharmed, scoffing, "Is this truly," he drew off, throwing the whale into the air before slamming its spine onto his rising knee, "the best you weak little humans can do? I'm actually disappointed, I expected so much more."

Trigon took the dazed whale by the tail and swung it like a bat at a descending Cyborg, releasing it on impact and letting the mammal and robot sail into a skyscraper. The building was dented in on impact, Cyborg flying through the other side with flailing limbs and screaming before crashing into another building's upper floors. Meanwhile the one Beast Boy had crashed into slowly teetered over, the whale caught in the bow it created in the structure like a pair of jaws. Just as it began to crush the wail at it's angle of falling, the beast rapidly shrank out of sight, a green hummingbird exiting the crater the whale had left and making a rapid escape.

Beneath, though, were Starfire and Robin, just regaining there senses through their haze. Robin crossed his arms before his face to avoid seeing his demise, the deafening squeal of the falling half of the building the only thing telling him how close his death was. The creaking was suddenly replaced with a thunderous crash and the grunts of his comrade. Robin looked over to see Starfire in a film of sweat, barely able to maintain a squatting position as she held up the building. "Robin...go!" she struggled to grunt out.

"What?! No! Starfire, we have to get out of here!" Robin protested.

"How...do you propose...we do that!? Robin...I beg you! Either you go...or we both die!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Fine." Starfire said before swinging her foot up into Robin's chest, sending him sailing out from under the building and into the open.

Her lack of balance cost her as she fell back to a lying position on her back, barely pressing the building above her as she strained to keep it up. Robin scuttled back to the side of the building on his hands and knees, having just cleared it as he landed, pleading, "Starfire! Can you hear me?! Starfire, answer me?"

Just then, the ear-shredding screech of metal and concrete coincided with the boom of the building being slammed into the earth on top of Starfire. Trigon's foot pinned the mass to the ground, eyes lighting up as a several beams exited his eyes and struck the building. The rubble quickly got fire before exploding altogether in a blazing pile of debris. "STARFIRE!"

"Pity how attached you humans are to those you think you feel love for. Tell me, what are your plans now, child?"

"I don't know how I'm going to do it, Trigon, but I'm going to kill you, if it's the last thing I do." Robin seethed as he rose to his feet, fists clenched in hatred.

"You most certainly will fail, but I can make sure you die trying, boy."

With that, Trigon snapped his fingers, several rings of fire encompassing Robin and acting as portals for fire demons to rise up from in massive ranks. Totally surrounded, Robin merely extended his staff and spun it before him, ceasing his martial art display and crossing it behind his back, extending his free palm out before him. "Ah, that is one thing I admire about you mortals. Even when faced with certain death, you will fight and take as many with you as possible. As much as I'd love to watch your demise, I'll give you one last chance. Hm? Reconsider your insolence and bow before me and, not only will I spare your life, I will grant you the greatest power a human could ever know."

"I'd rather die than serve you."

"Your wish is my command."

Trigon crossed his arms and looked on as the scores of demons closed in on Robin, the boy wonder holding his pose as the free ground around him quickly vanished into the burning blackness of the army.


	8. Redemption

The doors to the waiting area swung open, nearly flying off the hinges, as a diverse group of young men and women dashed for the receptionist. The blonde boy in partial armor, jeans, and black hoodie banged his fist madly on the call bell. The silver-haired young woman behind the counter looked up with concern, asking suspiciously, "Can I help you?"

Jaune was doubled over with hands on knees from the exertion of the run to the hospital, panting and trying to explain, "JNPR...friend...Ruby...Team RWBY...hospital...ugh..."

A red-haired girl stepped before him, stating, "I'm sorry, we're here to see our friends. Ruby and Yang. We heard they were in bad shape."

"Ah, yes. To my understanding, one is in critical but stable condition and the other is fine...physically." the receptionist said.

"What do you mean 'physically'?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well..." she began.

"No time for chit-chat, Pyrrha, our friends need us! Come on, where are they?!" Nora impatiently demanded, slamming her fists onto counter.

"Room 33, sixth one on the right down past that door." she replied, pointing to the correct door.

"Thank you so much." Pyrrha said in passing as they ran for the door and their friends' room.

Team JNPR stared down the door that had the number 33 inscribed on a small, silver square at eye-level. Jaune tentatively reached his hand out to open the door, the handle jimmying around before his grip and the door slowly swinging back on itself, revealing a man in black towering over them, everything below his neck hidden under a thick cape that wrapped around his body. Jaune gulped with fear, barely able to utter, "Uh...hi?"

"I assume you know these two?" the man spoke.

"Yes, we heard about Ruby and Yang and got here as fast as we could. Are they alright?" Pyrrha inquired.

The masked man merely turned and led them into the hospital room, looking over his shoulder at a sight that made Team JNPR paralyzed. Yang was huddled up with her knees in her chest and arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth as she stared blankly at the wall her bed was slid up against. Her rocking continued on in the same rhythm and speed despite their entrance, unaware of any presence in the room at all or, at least, unaffected by it. "What happened to her?" Jaune asked, breathless.

"Fear toxins. A criminal known as Scarecrow did this to her, those toxins cause vivid hallucinations of one's worst fears. Just a drop can drive a man mad. And it looks like it might be too late for her," Batman drew off, his arm parting his cape before him as he pointed at the curtain wrapping around the sounds of pumps and beeps, "Your other friend is over there. Prepare yourselves, it isn't pretty. When you're ready, come talk to the rest of their team, myself, and Superman, we have to come up with a plan to deal with the people who did this to your friends. They're planning to do something else, something far worse."

With that, the caped crusader headed for the door, stopping only as Jaune called out, "Hey, if you helped them in anyway, and for what you're doing for us, thank you. What's your name?"

Batman merely looked over his shoulder with a squinted eye, responding, "Who I really am is of no concern to you. But, for cooperative purposes, just call me Batman."

The hero exited with that, Jaune sputtering and cocking his eyebrow as he scoffed, "Batman, pfft, where do they get these people?"

Jaune's attention was brought back to his group as he heard their collective gasps of shock. He turned to find Pyrrha and Nora with hands clasped over there mouths, Ren looking to the side to avert his eyes. Before them was Ruby, kept alive by machines running their veins through the flesh of her arms atop the bed sheets and into her veins, their blood mixing to keep her alive, and tubes filling her mouth, nostrils, and even her airway. "Oh, my God..." Jaune whispered.

Unable to stand the sight anymore, Team JNPR left the room as quickly as they entered, the closing of the door catching Yang's attention enough break her trance as she looked over her shoulder.

The huntress swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rose from the mattress. She strolled past the door and over to her sister's side, her face growing sullen as tears escaped her eyes. She slowly placed her hand on Ruby's, gently gripping it as her facade switched to determination. She leaned over and placed a kiss on Ruby's forehead, putting her forehead against her sister's as she closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Ruby. I promise you, I'll get the people who did this to you and make them pay. I'll make what they did to you seem like nothing. I'm going to hurt them, _so _bad."

"Yang..." her sister weakly uttered, as if asking.

Yang rose up high, shocked to hear her little sister's voice. Ruby's eyes began to flutter before she managed to squint up at Yang, a weak but cheery smile on her face. It was her little sister, alright. Yang could not contain her smile nor herself as she hugged her sister, another tear streaming down her cheek. Ruby slowly wrapped her arms around Yang, whispering, "Yang...I need one thing from you."

"What is it, sis? I'll do anything."

"I need about tree-fitty," Deadpool said in a poor Scottish accent, once more in his den in a fancy coat and throne-like chair, corncob pip in one hand and book in the other, feet kicked up on an ottoman, "It was about this time I realized my little sister was actually an eight story tall crustacean from the Paleolithic era. That goddamn Loch Ness Monster tricked me again!"

"Deadpool, goddammit, this scene is actually supposed to be meaningful and serious!" DAM shouted.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?! I haven't hardly made an appearance these last few chapters and you won't be updating this for a while since this is that last one in your stupid five-five-five system before you switch over to Grand Theft Auto: Vale! A totally original story and plot, might I add. What are me, Tony, Spidey, and Brucey supposed to do?!"

"If you keep this shit up, so help me God, I will hire Christian Bale to direct this to keep you in-line!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me, Wade."

"Ugh, fine. Where was I...oh, yeah. 'Be safe.' Ruby managed before slipping unconscious once more. Yang gently lay her sister back in against her pillow, stroking her hair and smiling before turning for the door. Just as she took the handle, she turned and look back at her still-resting sister, turning once more to the exit and heading out to find her friends. Wow, good writing skills. Let's see, lame, boo, cringey, worse writing skills than Hideo Kojima, and all that negative crap you deserve. Now, let's see what those rascals of Team JNPR are up to!"

* * *

Team JNPR entered the lobby they had come from once more, finding the other members of Team RWBY in a corner near a television, the Batman and a man in red and blue conversing to the side. Weiss and Blake rose from their seats and greeted Team JNPR with a group hug, all knowing what the others had seen and endured. "How are you all doing?" Ren asked.

"We're fine but that isn't what matters. You saw Yang...you saw Ruby, right?" Blake blankly replied.

"Well, making ourselves feel worse about it will do nothing! Come on, guys, power of positive thinking?" Weiss interjected.

"I never thought I'd see you trying to cheer us all up." Blake cracked with a smirk.

"Oh, shush, you. Anyway, those two said they had something to speak to us about, we may as well cut the catty remarks here."

"Oh, good one." Blake said, rolling her eyes.

"She's right, though. We have a lot to discuss," Batman cut in, "This is Superman, he'll come in quite a bit of handy."

"And you've all met Batman, I assume, nothing but joy and smiles all around." Superman jibed.

"We're willing to do anything it takes to get the people who did this to our friends. So, what's the game plan...ugh, Batman?" Jaune offered.

"You've got them drilled almost as well as Robin, and they've only just met you."

Ignoring his comrade's comments, the Dark Knight continued, "Do you have any ideas where any known criminals could be hiding out?"

"Well, we know criminals, just not where they are."

"Looks like we'll have to start looking high and low for wherever they could be. Luthor clearly has something big planned. The sooner we find him, we stop him and his accomplices from pulling whatever it is they're planning. Who in this city could he be working with?"

"It has to be Roman Torchwick," Pyrrha interjected, "He runs pretty much all of crime in the city. He was stealing dust before, then pushing Grimm into the city, he's the only one who they could go to, if these people are as powerful as you say they are. But he could be anywhere in this kingdom, our outside it for that matter."

"Trust me, all very dangerous in their own unique ways. As soon as we can, we should go searching for them..."

Batman was interrupted as sirens began to drone on outside, a purple-haired woman and "BREAKING NEWS" appearing on the television in the corner. "This is Lisa Lavender with breaking news," the camera cut from her to the abandoned buildings on the outskirts of Vale, an immense mass of blackness moving on like a legion, "We have reports of a massive army of Grimm descending on the city, having broken through our first few lines of defense."

Outside, the city began to panic as screams and blaring sirens melded together, hysteria engulfing the populace. The group was drawn back to the broadcast as a man spoke, his camera swaying outside the door of a helicopter, "Yes, Lisa, we are right over the massive swarm of Grimm approaching the city. We will need any and all armed, well-trained fighters we can get to repel this force. Hold on a second," the man paused, the camera in swiveling forward to catch a large, gray shape at the head of the army, "It appears a large, ape-like being leading them. I don't believe this."

A beowolf lunged onto the creature, who reared back and revealed the Grimm had impaled itself on it's shoulder protrusion. The behemoth ripped the wolf from its back and hurled it up at the helicopter, the anchor screaming until the wolf collided, the feed dying instantly.

The TV instantly began an endless bleep, off-air color bars plastering the screen. The group was dumbfounded, fixated on the dead TV and the sound it made, unable to even hear the panic growing in the city streets. They were brought out of their collective trance as Batman called out, "Superman, wait!"

The hunters and huntresses-in-training turned as the air seemed to leave the room, rising to their feet as they saw Yang, turned to the side as she looked at the still swinging doors.

* * *

"Superman, wait!" Batman insisted, following the Man of Steel as he made his way down the halls.

He paid his comrade to mind, continuing down the hallway and for the building's exit. Just as they reached the outdoors, standing amidst the chaos of citizens scrambling for safety, Batman grabbed Superman by the shoulder, forcing him to face him as he ordered, "Clark, listen to me!"

"I'm not wasting anymore time with your plans, Bruce, they're the whole reason we're in this situation in the first place." Superman coldly replied.

"It was either this or letting Luthor and his Arkham connections run around unhindered. But you have to think this through. You left him to die at the end of time, not even the entropy death of the universe could kill him. What are you going to do to stop him?"

Superman sighed, looking off into the sky as he answered, "I hesitated at the portal when we first saw him. I was afraid. That's the reason he's here in the first place. I won't make that mistake twice."

"Clark, I'm begging you, don't do this."

"Who else is going to stop him?"

With that, Superman batted Batman's hand aside and reared back into a crouched position before hurling into flight high over the city, looking in all directions for any sight of where Doomsday and the Grimm army could be. He did not have to search long as he found a massive column of dust and black, sludge-like smoke rising into the air. Superman reared back and shot off in its direction, fists aimed out before him.

* * *

_Ever since we first met..._

Superman soon found himself right over the top of the horde of blackness following his nemesis, a few individuals snapping out at him and were promptly put down by the savage beast at their vanguard. Superman's eyes began to glow red, letting out a bestial war cry as he unleashed a massive laser stream from his eyes, engulfing Doomsday and several cohorts of the Grimm that surrounded him in a haze of crimson heat.

_That first time we fought tooth and nail..._

The heat ray slowly dissipated, revealing charred earth and smoke billowing up from the crater blocking his vision. Doomsday sailed up from the cloud, spearing Superman and sending them both plummeting down to the ground. Superman clubbed his fists together and slammed them, over and over, onto Doomsday's head, finally getting some free ground as Doomsday held him by the head in one hand, clubbing him in the chest with his other spiked fist. Superman doubled over as Doomsday clocked him upside the head, slicing his cheek open with his claws. Superman retaliated with a backhanded fist as he righted himself before Doomsday, the only result was Doomsday's head being turned to the side. Doomsday clasped his massive hands around Superman's head, driving him skull-first into the earth as they impacted the ground.

_When I fought without holding back..._

Doomsday stood with Superman in his embrace, crushing him in a giant bear hug. Superman strained to pry himself free or gain any sort of breathing room, but Doomsday's grip was inescapable. He stared Doomsday in his frightful, hate-filled eyes and blasted them with beam of heat. Doomsday released Superman, hands clasping his eyes and holding his smoldering face in agony as he roared. Superman flew at Doomsday, sending Doomsday dancing back form side-to-side with hook after hook. Doomsday merely held his face the whole time, finally sent sailing back with feet carving up the earth from a haymaker directly to the center of his face. Refusing to part his hands, Doomsday continued to rock about in pain as Superman sped at him once more, only for the beast to bring back one arm and backhand Superman, sending him careening into the Grimm that now encircled them.

_When you made me experience fear..._

Doomsday continued to cup his eyes, thrashing about in the fury of his pain. Superman, meanwhile, was in his own small, open circle surrounded by Grimm. An ursa came barreling towards him, only to be knocked onto its back by an uppercut that hit the air with a sickening crack. Superman turned and seized a beowolf by the throat just as its snapping jaws came within inches of his face. Superman wheeled around and hurled the beast into the crowd behind him, taking several rows back down with the speeding Grimm. He turned once again to snarl as another beowolf clawed through the S on his chest, leaving 4 large rakes in his costume. Superman stumbled back, holding his chest as a boarbatusk sped at him in ball form, ramming its tusks into his back and flooring him. Soon, the Grimm from all directions converged on him.

_I knew it'd be a fight for my life..._

Just as he was overwhelmed, Superman rose with a shout and flexed his arms out, Grimm for several yards around him flying in all directions. He clubbed his fists over his head and brought them down onto the skull of a beowolf that sprung at him, crushing it into the earth, before turning and hooking the spinning boarbatusk in the top of the head as it revolved at him. The beast's body sailed back and skewered the chest of an ursa on its hind legs, dropping the beast onto the boarbatusk to further impale itself and crush the Grimm. He turned once more as the ground began to shake, a massive scorpion with a golden stinger towering over him. The beast's tail rose up before sailing down from its zenith to impale the Man of Steel.

_I thought it'd be the end when we both fell on that day, for us both..._

Superman caught the stinger before him, his feet digging back through the ground several feet. With a grunt, he flung the deathstalker into the air, maintaining his grip on the golden stinger as he swung the armored Grimm in a circle all around him, clearing out the Grimm surround himself and making Doomsday visible again. The beast had a large beowolf throttled before him, his free hand clasping over the crown of its head as it yanked upward, ripping its head from its shoulders. Doomsday looked back to find Superman with the tail in his arms, the deathstalker on its back flailing and screeching to get back upright. Doomsday cast the corpse aside and charged for Superman as he readied to swing the gargantuan scorpion back at the monstrosity.

_I didn't think it would go anywhere near as far as it had gone..._

Doomsday was sent flying as the deathstalker slammed into him, Superman halting the revolution as his back was to the still-ascending Doomsday. He turned and swung the deathstalker over top of himself, bringing it down onto Doomsday and smashing him into the dirt under the rocky monster. The lights in the deathstalker's eyes went out on impact, Superman no sooner releasing the tail than did Doomsday fist shoot out of the top of the deathstalker's head. Soon, the monster climbed up through his gory canal and stand atop its body, roaring as he and Superman collided once more.

_To force me to go to the lengths I've had to go to to stop you..._

The beast caught the Kryptonian's fists in his monstrous paws, bones cracking his Superman's hands as the bear traps tightened ever more on his hands. Desperate, Superman sailed up and crashed the crown of his head into Doomsday's mouth, jarring his haggard teeth loose as he was taken off his feet. Superman grabbed Doomsday by his hands and somersaulted over his head, planting both boots into the back of his head before smashing him face-first into the ground once more under hes feet. Taking one hand in both of his own, Superman began to wheel Doomsday overhead and slam him about like a ragdoll before Doomsday caught him with an uppercut as he was thrown up into the air once more. Superman sailed back before the front lines of the encroaching Grimm, Superman grimacing in pain as Doomsday took him by the leg and began to swing him around and wildly smash him into the ground.

_Pushing me to limits I never knew I had..._

Doomsday slung Superman into the air, bored with slamming him about. The hero managed to right himself in the air and face down at the mob that had gathered around he and his nemesis. Superman flew straight down at the Grimm beneath him, turning at the lest second so that he sailed over their heads and towards Doomsday, fist brought back. They met fist-to-fist, Superman being stopped abruptly as he brought his other fist back, only to be impeded by Doomsday's own. The tow locked into a stalemate test of strength, Superman now on his feet and slowly being bushed back with each step Doomsday took. Beads of sweat formed on his head before Doomsday abruptly reared back with a pained bellow. A beowolf had lunged onto him, claws dug into his chest and sunk its teeth into his shoulder. Superman took the advantage and charged at Doomsday, only to have the beowolf flipped over Doomsday and slammed onto him. Doomsday rose his foot and began to stomp the Grimm and Superman to nothing. His foot finally drove a hole through the beowolf's chest and out its back directly to Superman, leaving no protection for the hero from the pounding.

_Making me dread every encounter I knew was bound to happen..._

The beowolf's corpse finally dissipated, giving Superman the chance to grab Doomsday's foot as it was brought up once more. Superman rose as Doomsday wobbled on his unsteady foot, Superman hauling him face-first into wound-up right hook, Doomsday's body sailing out from under him as his body sailed out from under him. Superman brought his fist together once more and clubbed them into Doomsday's face, driving the back of his skull into Superman's knee as it shot up. Superman shoved Doomsday's head back before booting him in the side of the head, his body tumbling through the air, his shoulder blades slicing numerous Grimm apart on his launch path. Doomsday dug his fist into the earth and carved his way to a stop before hurling himself through the Grimm around him straight for Superman again. His gnarled, jagged hands reached out for Superman as he was in his grasp, only for the cross-armed Man of Steel to vanish in an instant. Doomsday was suddenly grasped from the back around the chest by the reappeared hero, who flew on with the enraged monster his his grasp through the Grimm mob.

_Making me aware of just how mortal I was..._

Doomsday and Superman shot through the ranks of the Grimm like a bullet, Doomsday's wing-like shoulder bones cutting every Grimm in their path in two, or his hard head smashing them to death on impact. Doomsday finally managed to get his arms back over himself and grab Superman by the shoulder, ripping him off of him and driving his face into the ground, making his body curl back over itself to the point his feet nearly touched the back of his head. Superman's face plowed into and through the dirt before finally stopping he and Doomsday's momentum. Doomsday rose Superman before him by his cape, the hero barely keeping his eyes open until they flew wide-open as Doomsday hurled a fist into Superman's abdomen. He did so again, and again and again, each time more ribs creaking and splintering in Superman's chest. Doomsday dropped Superman, the hero landing on all fours as a fountain of red poured from his mouth. The hero panted, unable to rise as Doomsday's foot swung up into his face, hurling him further into the crowd of Grimm.

_I always knew one day would come..._

Superman tumbled end-over-end, finally landing on his feet on a three-point stance before speeding at Doomsday for another round. He managed only to sail into Doomsday's rising knee, slicing his forehead, bridge of his nose, cheek, and chin open in several areas and angles. Superman wrapped his arms around Doomsday's leg and spun him around at high speeds before hurling him away, desperately trying to gain room to regain his composure and think. He got none as a massive white force slammed down on him, Superman screaming in pain as one end of the king taijitu closed its jaws over his shoulder, chest and back.

_That I couldn't beat you..._

Superman glared down at its eye and blasted through its head with his heat vision, blood, bits of skull, and brain matter exploding out the exit wound. The black end of the snake wheeled over as Superman freed himself from the dead white end's clutches. The serpent struck, but Superman managed to catch it by the snout and lower jaw just as it tried to engulf him, turning and hurling it at Doomsday in an attempt to slow him down. Doomsday lowered his head and charged straight at the gaping mouth of the serpent that sped at him. He went into the head first into the maw of the beast, but his shoulder plates caught the edges as he continued charging down the snake's gullet, slicing both sides open and bisecting the snake upon is exit out the other head. Superman's eyes widened with shock as Doomsday stomped on after him. Superman shook his head and regained himself as he met Doomsday head-on. He ducked a wild swipe of his hand before rising up and uppercutting Doomsday in the jaw. Doomsday stumbled back as Superman floated before him, unloading fist after fist onto each side of his head, clubbing his fists together and swinging side-to-side. Superman finally relented, Doomsday stammering on as the hero panted in exhaustion. Doomsday finally gained his footing as he and Superman eyed each other down, the monster abruptly cocking his head to his left and right, cracking his neck each time.

_That I'd be at my limit and you'd barely even started..._

Superman soared at Doomsday as he spread his arms out wide, as if to embrace him again. Doomsday's arms snapped together like a trap, crushing Superman's head between his fists. Superman collapsed before Doomsday, trembling as he tried to push himself up. Doomsday assisted him by raising him up before his face by his cape, rocketing Superman into the air with an uppercut. Superman managed to keep himself in the sky and keep distance between himself and Doomsday. Noticing the black mass all around them, Superman drew in a long, deep breath before unleashing a powerful gale from his mouth.

_That even when I pulled all the stops_

The hurricane coming from Superman's breath blew innumerable Grimm through the air, Doomsday digging his feet into the earth and crossing his arms before him in an X-shape as the wind broad-sided him. Doomsday would not budge, had it not been for the Grimm that bombarded him in the wind storm, merely making him grunt and lose a few steps. As the wind began to relent, Doomsday sailed back with Superman's fist under his chin, the thunderous crack following. Superman throttled the monster and drove him into the ground, plowing him through the earth but did nothing Doomsday from seizing his throat in his paws. Superman let loose another blast of heat vision into Doomsday's open mouth, the creature gagging and clutching his own throat along with the hero. Superman took the chance and rose high into the atmosphere, Doomsday now embraced from behind once again as he struggled to reopen its throat from the charring blast. The rose higher and higher into the atmosphere until they were in its periphery. Finally, Superman turned and sped back into the earth, the duo catching fire along the descent. The pain outdid that that was in Doomsday's throat, the beast thrashing madly to get free, Superman only holding on tighter and descending faster. The duo were driven into the earth, the explosive force of the landing being heard back in Vale over the wailing sirens, citizens turning to look at the dusty mushroom cloud that rose into the sky.

_Even if I held absolutely nothing back..._

The Grimm in all directions were either torn apart by the force or flung everywhere. Doomsday and Superman lie prone at the bottom of the crater. Superman slowly stirred, pushing himself up tentatively to his feet before falling to his knees, arching back in pain. The shift of earth made his head slowly, begrudgingly turn to see Doomsday rising as well. Reaching his limit, Superman could only force himself to his feet and face Doomsday, the monster slowly approaching the hero as he raised his fists. Superman threw his fist ahead, only to be caught in Doomsday's massive palm, and Doomsday backhand slapping Superman aside, slicing his other cheek open. Superman skidded along the crater, getting to a vertical basis, albeit doubled over, and was unable to see Doomsday crashing both feet down on top of him, crushing him into the rocky earth. Doomsday leaped from Superman's back and picked him off the ground by his cape, bringing a fist back and smashing his spiked, rocky knuckles into his face and the cape bringing him back for another like a speed bag until it tore. Superman flipped through the air and crashed chest-first on the other side of the crater. He tried desperately to push himself back up to his feet, his arms weaker than he had ever known and whole body trembling madly. He was promptly stamped back down when Doomsday's foot crashed onto the back of his head, driving him into the ground until his head was buried. Superman lie helpless, blood flowing from his mouth, the gashes on his face, and the other wounds on his chest and stomach at the hands of Doomsday.

_You'd finally beat me..._

Doomsday took his foot of Superman's head, the hero slowly and shakily rising his head from the divot it was driven into. The monster glared down at Superman, it's hateful, furious expression as present as ever. It rose its fists up high and slammed them down onto Superman's back, pain jolting through the hero's body. The beast grasped the fabric over the Man of Steel's lower and upper back. Doomsday swooped Superman off the ground and rose him high over his head, the hero limp in his grasp.

_And break me..._

Doomsday threw Superman down before him and shot his knee up at the exact same instant, the jutting bone impaling him through the lumbar of his spine and out through his stomach, blood painting the blade that ran through his abdomen. Superman was folded over the monster's leg, letting out a long, ear-piercing scream in agony, muffled only slightly by the blood filling his airway. Doomsday lowered his leg and his knee blade sunk back out of Superman's body, a sickening, slow slice of flesh ringing through the air. Superman cringed and gagged for air in Doomsday's arms, the beast glaring down at his helpless foe. Before he could initiate the final blow, Doomsday took notice to the blaring sirens of his objective he currently ignored. He turned his attention ahead at the glowing city in the distance, the one he had come so long to reach. "N...n-no!" Superman managed to utter through his blood-filled mouth.

Doomsday's angry snarl contorted into a sick smile, the beast dropping Superman and racking his back further in torment. Doomsday stepped over Superman as he writhed on the ground, his legs felt as though weights were on them that not even he could lift and lie useless and limp. He continued on his way to the city, the Grimm filing in behind him and closing in on the helpless, broken Man of Steel.

_I always knew it would come to this._


End file.
